5 espressos a day could damage your health
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said single doses of up to 200mg of caffeine from a range of sources — such as tea, coffee, chocolate and energy drinks — should be a safe level for most healthy adults.
This is about 3mg per kilogram of body weight from different sources of food and drink, according to an EFSA panel which took a scientific look at the safety of caffeine on the request of the European Commission.
A 60ml espresso provides around 80mg of caffeine while a 200ml cup of filter coffee has around 90mg, according to the EFSA. There is around 80mg of caffeine in a 250ml standard can of “energy drink”, 40mg in a 355ml can of cola, 25mg in a 50g bar of plain chocolate and 10mg in a 50g bar of milk chocolate.
The EFSA said that up to 400mg a day from various food and drink should have no health consequences for healthy adults. Around a third of people in Denmark, 17% in the Netherlands and 14% in Germany consume more than 400mg .
Safe limits for children and young adolescents should also be lower than that of adults, the EFSA suggested.
