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A personal trainer from Wales died last year from a caffeine overdose after ingesting caffeine powder that was the equivalent of up to 200 cups of coffee.
Earlier this week, an inquest is learning the details of the case. According to BBC News, Tom Mansfield, 29, died of caffeine toxicity after falling ill to his caffeine powder mixture on January 5, 2021. He miscalculated the amount of powder he was supposed to take.
Mansfield purchased a 100-gram bag of caffeine powder from Blackburn Distributions, the hearing was told. There was a recommended dose of 60-300mg, but Mansfield's kitchen scale had a weighing range from 2-5,000 grams. The miscalculation led to the caffeine overdose, BBC News reported.
Company director Ben Blackburn said in a statement that the powder should be weighed to two decimal places in milligrams. The company, at the time, did not provide a scoop inside the bags of powder. That has since changed. The packaging now also has enhanced usage instructions and clarified the product's side effects.
Mansfield had caffeine levels of 392 milligrams per liter of blood in his system at the time of his death. The average person would have 2-4 milligrams per liter after drinking one cup of coffee.
The inquest learned Mansfield began to clutch his chest and complain that his heart was beating fast after taking the caffeine powder. He started to foam at the mouth minutes later. His wife called an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital. Paramedics tried lifesaving measures for 45 minutes, but Mansfield was pronounced dead at the hospital.