![]() ![]() In September 2010, the makers of Sunkist Orange recalled nearly 4,000 cases of the 12-ounce bottled version of the beverage after receiving customer complaints that the soft drink had a medicinal taste to it and was causing stomachaches, vomiting and even hospitalization, according to the book "Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts, and Hooks Us" (Hudson Street Press, 2014) by Murray Carpenter.Īfter looking into it, the manufacturer determined that human error was to blame for the incident: The reason for the off-taste and sickness was that a batch of the orange soda had been accidentally blended with six times as much caffeine as it should have, they said, according to the book.Įach bottle contained about 238 milligrams of caffeine, an amount equivalent to what's found in three Red Bulls, about seven cans of regular cola or 16 ounces of strong coffee, according to the book. Other brands of orange soda are usually noncaffeinated, but Sunkist Orange has more caffeine in it than a similar amount of Coca-Cola or Pepsi. (Image credit: NaughtyNut/)Īlthough it contains less caffeine than a small cup of coffee, a 12-ounce can of Sunkist Orange soda has 41 milligrams of caffeine in it, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Signs of caffeine toxicity might include a racing heart, sweating, seizures, vomiting, muscle tremors and, eventually, respiratory collapse, Lane said. ![]() Further complicating matters is that safe quantities of powdered caffeine can be nearly impossible to measure accurately with kitchen teaspoons, the FDA said. The FDA warns that young people, in particular, might use powdered caffeine - which is sold legally online - to boost their energy level, study longer, improve their athletic performance or lose weight.īut the powder is 100 percent caffeine, making it a powerful stimulant that, in even very small amounts, may trigger an accidental and potentially fatal overdose. One teaspoon of pure powdered caffeine contains about the same amount of caffeine as 28 cups of regular coffee, according to the FDA. Their deaths illustrate the dangers and potency of this concentrated product. In 2014, two young men - an 18-year-old in Ohio and a 24-year-old in Georgia - overdosed on pure powdered caffeine, according to the FDA. ![]() In rare instances, when caffeine is consumed at high enough doses (typically in excess of 5 grams in adults - the amount in about 30 to 50 cups of coffee), it can kill.ĭeaths have been reported from overdosing on powdered caffeine and caffeine pills, such as weight-loss aids. Death from too much caffeine is rare, but possible These withdrawal symptoms are relieved when they get their morning fix of caffeine. The reason people who regularly drink caffeine wake up feeling groggy, confused or with a headache is that they are experiencing withdrawal symptoms from yesterday's coffee, Lane said. This makes it easier for people to develop a dependency on caffeine because it makes people want to continue to drink it the next day, Lane said. Pregnancy can extend caffeine's half-life even more, lengthening it to 10.5 hours during the final four weeks of pregnancy, according to one study.īecause it can take up to 12 hours to clear caffeine from the body, the drug often wears off when a person is almost ready to go to bed. In contrast, women who take birth control pills may keep caffeine in their systems for up to 4 hours longer than women who are not on the pill, according to one study. But that doesn't mean that all of the caffeine is gone after 8 hours, in fact, it may take 12 hours to completely eliminate the caffeine in a morning cup of coffee, said Lane, who has studied the health effects of the drug.Ĭaffeine's half-life may be shortened to about 3 hours in people who smoke, Lane said. The half-life of caffeine, or the time it takes to eliminate one-half of the caffeine people have in their bodies, is about 4 hours, said James Lane, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. But it takes much longer than that for the body to break it down and clear it from a person's system. Caffeine is absorbed into the blood and tissues within about 45 minutes of being consumed. ![]()
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