John Jackson dies from caffeine overdose after eating Hero Instant Energy Mints

[23536]

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/he...ant-energy-mints/story-fneuzlbd-1226739290381

The body of John Jackson, 40, was discovered by family members after he ate Hero Instant Energy Mints, a brand of sweets containing high concentrations of caffeine.

A post-mortem examination showed Mr Jackson had 155mg of caffeine per litre of blood in his system, Sky News reported. Just 10mg is considered an overdose.

"This is a potentially very dangerous situation,” Coroner Robin Balmain told an inquest in Smethwick, in western England. “The level of caffeine is enormous. I think it's as certain as it can be that Mr Jackson didn't know that he was going to expose himself to this sort of danger."

A pathologist gave the cause of death as caffeine toxicity, but added that Mr Jackson had cirrhosis of the liver - a result of heavy drinking - which would have made it harder for him to absorb the stimulant properly.

Just one of the sweets is believed to have more caffeine than a whole can of high-energy drinks like Red Bull.

The makers of the sweets, Hero Energy Ltd, said they had taken steps to warn about the high caffeine content, including advisories on the packaging, websites, and shelf displays, telling consumers not to eat more than five mints in 24 hours.

However, Mr Jackson’s stepdaughter Rebecca Court, 23, said the easy availability of the mints represented a potential threat to the public.

"A kid could go in and buy them and the same thing could happen to him," Sky reported Miss Court as saying.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/he...ant-energy-mints/story-fneuzlbd-1226739290381

 

[blazR]

Ban that shit ;p

 

[23536]

A post-mortem examination showed Mr Jackson had 155mg of caffeine per litre of blood in his system, Sky News reported. Just 10mg is considered an overdose.

I am confused by this. Assuming he had 5.5 liters of blood in his body, the total caffeine in his blood was around 850 mg. That's about the content of 8 oz. of espresso. I have that every morning.

I'm not saying somebody can't OD on 8 oz. of espresso, but the article then says that 55 mg of caffeine is an overdose.

 

[neversickanymore]

Caffeine overdose can result in a state of central nervous system over-stimulation called caffeine intoxication (DSM-IV 305.90).[47] This syndrome typically occurs only after ingestion of large amounts of caffeine, well over the amounts found in typical caffeinated beverages and caffeine tablets (e.g. more than 400–500 mg at a time). The symptoms of caffeine intoxication are comparable to the symptoms of overdoses of other stimulants: they may include restlessness, fidgeting, anxiety, excitement, insomnia, flushing of the face, increased urination, gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle twitching, a rambling flow of thought and speech, irritability, irregular or rapid heart beat, and psychomotor agitation.[68] In cases of much larger overdoses, mania, depression, lapses in judgment, disorientation, disinhibition, delusions, hallucinations, or psychosis may occur, and rhabdomyolysis (breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue) can be provoked.[69][70]
Extreme overdose can result in death.[71][72] The median lethal dose (LD50) given orally, is 192 milligrams per kilogram in rats. The LD50 of caffeine in humans is dependent on individual sensitivity, but is estimated to be about 150 to 200 milligrams per kilogram of body mass or roughly 80 to 100 cups of coffee for an average adult.[4] Though achieving lethal dose with caffeine would be difficult with regular coffee, there have been reported deaths from overdosing on caffeine pills.[73] [74] [75][citation needed] An exception to this would be taking a drug such as fluvoxamine or levofloxacin, which blocks the liver enzyme responsible for the metabolism of caffeine, thus increasing the central effects and blood concentrations of caffeine five-fold.[70][71][72][76] The exact cause of death in such cases is uncertain, but may result from cardiac arrhythmia leading to cardiac arrest.
Treatment of severe caffeine intoxication is generally supportive, providing treatment of the immediate symptoms, but if the patient has very high serum levels of caffeine then peritoneal dialysis, hemodialysis, or hemofiltration may be required.[68]

source

One mint = one whole energy drink. That means each tin of HERO Energy Mints is the equivalent of 12 cans of the leading energy drink.

source

Absoltely ban that shit.. ban everything people with questionable intelligence can use to enhance their ability to die.. I promote reverse evolution and I hope you all do too.. ban everything dangerous for the good of reverse evolution..

 

[Folley]

^^ A red bull has 80mg of caffeine.. you drink 10 times that in the morning?

 

[23536]

^^ A red bull has 80mg of caffeine.. you drink 10 times that in the morning?

I fill one of these up with espresso grounds and 8 oz water.

It tastes much better than like Folgers or whatever.

 

[Madhatter4]

This man deserves a Darwin award

 

[S.J.B.]

I am confused by this. Assuming he had 5.5 liters of blood in his body, the total caffeine in his blood was around 850 mg. That's about the content of 8 oz. of espresso. I have that every morning.

I'm not saying somebody can't OD on 8 oz. of espresso, but the article then says that 55 mg of caffeine is an overdose.

These numbers always get screwed up. Perhaps they meant mg/kg instead of mg/L? But even then 10 mg/kg is far too low.

 

[bloodshed344]

I fill one of these up with espresso grounds and 8 oz water.

It tastes much better than like Folgers or whatever.

I'm sorry but I have done caffeine pills I know the dose. There's no way you take that much without serious complications or long-term massive tolerance. I think you're being generous with how much the dose is.

 

[23536]

I'm sorry but I have done caffeine pills I know the dose. There's no way you take that much without serious complications or long-term massive tolerance. I think you're being generous with how much the dose is.

I'm Cuban. We literally spend the whole day drinking Cuban coffee, which is essentially espresso with a lot of sugar.

But you're right about me getting the dose wrong. According to Wikipedia espresso has 40 to 80 mg per ounce.

 

[FadedTryptamine]

We can buy shit like these mints legally and very easily but we get thrown into a cage if we get caught purchasing some cannabis. Throwed off world we live in.

 

[burn007]

My best guess for how much caffeine I consume would be around 1200mg?? whatever a whole pot of coffee would be. not healthy at all but tolerance is a bitch.

 

[oldirtybizza]

I am confused by this. Assuming he had 5.5 liters of blood in his body, the total caffeine in his blood was around 850 mg. That's about the content of 8 oz. of espresso. I have that every morning.

I'm not saying somebody can't OD on 8 oz. of espresso, but the article then says that 55 mg of caffeine is an overdose.

I think you mean 8 X 8 oz cups of standard coffee
a double shot of espresso is around 2oz and contains roughly 100mg so 8 oz or 4 shots of espresso contains 400mg.

although espresso has the highest caffeine content by volume it extracts less caffeine from the coffee grounds than other methods due to the shorter extraction times.

If you want to get technical what you're showing isn't espresso anyway which requires 9bars pressure at the group head of the espresso machine , it's a moka pot , that 8 fl oz bialetti has a 1.5oz(42g) basket (single shot=1-2 fl oz= 8g coffee grounds=75mg caffeine) so the total amount of caffeine would be around 400mg not the 850mg.

^french press all the way, If only all those latte sippers realized they're doing drugs and all this coffee stuff is paraphernalia.

 

[RTrain]

At first I though that said Jack Johnson. Why did they put the guy' name in the headline of he article, its not like he is anyone of important. Maybe they figured people would the same mistake as me and get the article more web traffic.

 

[HCL]

Other article: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/john-jackson-family-dad-who-2363193

Coroner Robin Balmain, who held an inquest into his death in Smethwick, West Mids is now writing to the Department for Health to demand answers about the Hero mints, which are made in the UK.

Tragic John, from Darlaston, West Mids, ate all 12 mints in the pack before his shocking death, the inquest was told.

He did not drink coffee or tea and his only occasional source of caffeine came from Coca Cola.

That would be 960 milligrams (80 per mint) with cirrhosis and no real caffeine tolerance.

I find it rather hard to fault the manufacturer.

 

[slimvictor]

Erowid says that lethal doses in humans can occur from 3 grams oral, and that the LD50 for rats is 192 mg/kg.

Numbers, I would be concerned about such caffeine intake for its long-term health effects.
However, oldirtybizza really seems to know his (her?) stuff about coffee and caffeine, and if he (she?) is right, 400 mg / day is not so much compared to many people.
I hear conflicting things about caffeine, but I learned that a single shot (oz) of espresso has 64 mg caffeine, which would make 8 oz mean a smooth half-gram of caffeine a day, a bit more but still a reasonable intake. Wiki does not match exactly, but it makes sense that there should be a range depending on beans, preparation, etc.

 

[weekend addiction]

Caffeine is basically harmless in the scheme of drugs. Fuck off health nuts. It's the only legal stimulant that works for me.

 

[oldirtybizza]

Yeah we're renowned for being coffee snobs down these ways, maybe it's the lack of other substances.

It's pretty easy to calculate caff content in espresso as it's largely standardised across the industry. generally the main determining factors in caffeine content in a store bought espresso are extraction times, shot weight 7-10g, how fine the ground is (finer=more caff), heat and pressure.
Ratio of robusta(higher caff % ) variety to arabica is a factor in cheaper or instant coffees but is uncommon to find in a commercial espresso blend due to it's flavour profile.

An 8 oz coffee at a cafe will generally have 1 or 2 shots of espresso , the rest will be either hot water or milk.
Good cafes will serve all coffees as double shot , an 8 oz latte/capp/americano at a tax dodging starbucks will be only 1 shot giving you a measly 75mg of the goods.

personally I would average about 3 doubles so 450mg over a whole day, 400mg in a sitting or 5 standard starfucks lattes is probably getting into pant shitting territory for most folks.

So I guess Mr John Jackson has shown that drinking 13 coffees is probably a bad idea.

 

[slimvictor]

^ Thanks for sharing that, ODB.
But one small thing: if Mr Jackson had drunk 13 coffees, he might possibly have been better (or worse) off.
Coffee, as I am sure you know, has thousands of chemicals in it, for one thing. Some could have protected him from (or conceivably made him more susceptible to) having a cardiovascular event.
Also, the caffeine in the mints could have hit his system differently without the water. Because his liver was partly or mostly to blame for his inability to assimilate the caffeine, I wonder if he might have not done better with coffee than mints.
But, it is true, people - especially those with liver problems - should not drink 13 coffees at one sitting. Good harm reduction advice!

 

[HCL]

Erowid says that lethal doses in humans can occur from 3 grams oral, and that the LD50 for rats is 192 mg/kg.

Yes, but it can be fatal in lower doses if taken all at once. Or, as in this man's case, if you can't metabolize it properly.

Caffeine is basically harmless in the scheme of drugs. Fuck off health nuts. It's the only legal stimulant that works for me.

Our desensitization to caffeine seems to dissapear when we find it in stuff other than tea and coffee.