Someone at work left an open tub of Trader Joe’s chocolate-covered espresso beans in the break room. Unable to resist their chocolaty siren’s call, I soon myself munching them down like Skittles. Since I’m unavoidably somewhat morbid, this got me thinking, just how many of these would it take to kill me?<\/p>\n
Well, this required a bit of research…<\/p>\n
According to Wikipedia<\/a>, the LD50 (median lethal dose, i.e. the dose at which 50% of subjects die) in humans is estimated to be around 150 to 200 milligrams per kilogram of body mass.<\/p>\n I weigh on the order of 180 pounds. (actually, slightly more) That’s 81.65 kilograms. Given 150 to 200 grams per kilogram, that works out to 12247.5 – 16330 milligrams.<\/p>\n So, it would take between 12.25 and 16.33 grams<\/b> of caffeine to kill me.<\/p>\n Acccording to this coffee FAQ<\/a>, a chocolate-covered espresso bean contains 3 – 5 milligrams of caffeine. So, it could take anywhere from 2,450 and 5,443 chocolate-covered espresso beans to kill me.<\/p>\n 27 beans adds up to 2.0 ounces. Since a container of Trader Joe’s chocolate-covered espresso beans is 14 ounces, that makes approximately 190 beans per container.<\/p>\n So, I would have to eat between 13 and 29 tubs in order to die of caffeine overdose.<\/p>\n What is the timeframe in which all these beans would have to be consumed?<\/p>\n What is the actual physical volume of all these beans?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Someone at work left an open tub of Trader Joe’s chocolate-covered espresso beans in the break room. Unable to resist their chocolaty siren’s call, I soon myself munching them down like Skittles. Since I’m unavoidably somewhat morbid, this got me … Continue reading How Many Beans?<\/h4>\n
How Many Tubs?<\/h4>\n
Outstanding Questions<\/h4>\n