CEBU CITY-- Twenty-nine high school students of a private school in Barangay Basak San Nicolas were sent to the Cebu City Medical Center on Wednesday (Sept. 28) after suffering from alleged caffeine overdose.

The students experienced abdominal pain, headache, vomiting and palpitation after drinking cold bottled coffee distributed as free samples.

The students were released from the emergency room a few hours after they were given treatment but did not go to school on Thursday.

The school administration refused to comment on the incident.

Based on the evaluation of the Cebu City Health Office (CCHO), the students overdosed with caffeine from the cold bottled coffee. It said young people are supposed to take only 60-70 milligrams of caffeine everyday.

The CCHO said, if they go over this limit, they will experience headaches, vomiting, and palpitation.

The Committee on Health of Cebu City Council is urging the Department of Education to be more careful in allowing marketing activities like giving away of free samples of products inside schools.

Patricia Malay of PT Torabika, manufacturer of the distributed bottled coffee, Kopiko 78°C, said they are investigating the matter and are checking how the students got the samples.

Meantime, she said they are attending to the needs of the affected students and their families, and they will be paying for the hospital bills and related expenses of the victims.