Death by Chocolate: Yes! Chocolate can kill. But how much would kill you?

 Choco Yum Yum! Mathspig lervs chocolate. But did you know chocolate can kill you?

Chocolate contains a chemical called Theobromine. This alkaloid ( other alkaloids include cocaine, nicotine, caffeine, and strychnine) can kill humans. More info Wired Magazine.

How much chocolate is too much?

Firstly, the darker the chocolate the more Theobromine it contains.

According to About Chemistry based on the highest possible toxicity:

* Vetmedicine: Cooking chocolate contains 8-10 times the Theobromine in Milk Chocolate.

According to Wired large doses of theobromine may cause “nausea and anorexia ….. sweating, trembling and severe headache.”

The Royal Society of Chemistry notes that chocolate does not contain caffeine, but theobromine induces similar symptoms.

LD50 for the lethal dose for 50% of the population for Theobromine is:

1000 mg/kg 0r 1gm/kg of body weight in humans

Death by Chocolate Calculations:

1. FORMULA

2. GRAPH

3. Percentage

Death by Chocolate for DOGS

Chocolate can be fatal to dogs. As dogs are small they can easily eat enough chocolate to kill them. According to The Royal Society of Chemistry

The National Geographic has an amazing interactive chart for dog poisoning by chocolate.

Death by Chocolate for CATS

Chocolate contains a poison called Theobromine.

LD50 for  Theobromine for cats is 200mg.

LD = Lethal Dose. LD50= Lethal Dose for 50% of the population. Cats in this case. This is how poison toxicity is measured. 

According to The Royal Society of Chemistry, cats are hypersensitive to Theobromine but, as cats cannot taste sweetness, they are rarely poisoned.

Death by Chocolate: The Maths

 Choco Yum Yum! Mathspig lervs chocolate. But did you know chocolate can kill you?

Chocolate contains a chemical called Theobromine. This alkaloid ( other alkaloids include cocaine, nicotine, caffeine and strychnine) can kill humans. More info Wired Magazine.

How much chocolate is too much?

Firstly, the darker the chocolate the more Theobromine it contains.

According to About Chemistry:

Based on highest possible toxicity:

White Chocolate: insignificant

.

.

Milk Chocolate 1-5 g/kg

200gm block = 1 gm per block

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Dark Chocolate 10 g/kg

200gm block = 2gm per block

 ..

…………………………………………………….

Cooking or Baking chocolate* 10-50 g/kg

200mg block = 10 g per block

(* Vetmedicine: Cooking chocolate contains 8-10 times the Theobromine in Milk Chocolate )

According to Wired large doses of theobromine may cause “nausea and anorexia ….. sweating, trembling and severe headache.”

The Royal Society of Chemistry notes that chocolate does not contain caffeine, but theobromine induces similar symptoms.

LD50 for the lethal dose for 50% of the population f or Theobromine is:

1000 mg/kg 0r 1gm/kg of body weight in humans

Death by Chocolate Calculations:

1. FORMULA

2. GRAPH

3. Percentage

Death by Chocolate for DOGS

Chocolate can be fatal to dogs. As dogs are small they can easily eat enough chocolate to kill them. According to The Royal Society of Chemistry

LD50 or Lethal Dose for 50% of the population of dogs for Theobromine is 300 mg/kg or 0.3 gm/kg.

 

chihuahua weighs 3 kg or less

cocker spaniel weighs 12 kg

Great Dane weighs 64 kg

 

Dogs are susceptible to Chocolate Poisoning because they do not metabolise Theobromine very quickly. In other words, they can gobble down a lot of chocolate (Christmas Day and Valentine’s Day are danger zones for dogs) and the chemical builds up in the body to a lethal dose.

 

The National Geographic has an amazing interactive chart for dog poisoning by chocolate.

Death by Chocolate for CATS

Chocolate contains a poison called Theobromine.

LD50 for  Theobromine for cats is 200mg.

LD = Lethal Dose. LD50= Lethal Dose for 50% of the population. This is how poison toxicity is measured. 

According to The Royal Society of Chemistry, cats are hypersensitive to Theobromine but, as cats cannot taste sweetness, they are rarely poisoned.