Briton dies of caffeine overdose after consuming the equivalent of 200 shots of coffee

A British personal trainer died after drinking the equivalent of 200 cups of coffee powdered caffeine.

Father of two Tom Mansfield miscalculated the amount of powder he should use on the kitchen scale.

A judicial inquiry in Ruthin, Wales revealed that the 29-year-old, from Colwyn Bay, fell ill shortly after taking the concoction on January 5, 2021.

The coroner in charge, John Gittins, came to the conclusion that it was a fatality and stated that the cause of death was caffeine toxicity.

Caffeine is used by some gym-goers — and some fitness websites recommend its consumption to improve sports performance in certain doses.

However, experts warn that when taking powdered supplements, there is a risk of consuming more than the recommended amount.

According to the court inquest, Mansfield began clutching his chest and complaining that his heart was beating fast after consuming the product.

Minutes later, when he was lying down, he started foaming at the mouth. His wife Suzannah asked neighbors and family for help and called an ambulance.

Paramedics attempted to resuscitate him for 45 minutes, but Mansfield was eventually pronounced dead at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire.

The investigation found that the scale Mansfield used to weigh the powder had a weighing range of 2 to 5,000 grams, while he was trying to weigh a recommended dose of 60-300mg.

It was this miscalculation that led to a massive overdose.

According to the inquest, he had purchased a 100g bag of the powder from Blackburn Distributions.

In a statement read at the hearing, Ben Blackburn, director of the company, said the powder should be weighed to two decimal places in milligrams — and the suggested dosage was 60-300mg of powder up to twice a day.

He informed that scales for weighing such small quantities could be purchased.

The company did not, at the time of Mansfield’s death, include measuring spoons in the packaging because they are not always accurate, but Blackburn said he would change that now.

Blackburn also reported that it has improved the instructions for use and increased the focus on potential side effects.

An autopsy showed that Mansfield had caffeine levels of 392mg per liter of blood.

Caffeine levels would normally be 2 to 4 milligrams per liter if someone had drunk a cup of filtered coffee.

The coroner said it looked like Mansfield was trying to get “the average recommended dose” but “got the math wrong” and there were “unintended consequences” that had a fatal effect.