In early May, Panera Bread confirmed it is phasing out its Charged Lemonade, a sparkling line of caffeinated drinks at the center of lawsuits against the restaurant chain.
The drinks first attracted attention through influencer Sarah Baus, who posted a video on TikTok in late 2022 about her dining experience at Panera one afternoon. Baus claimed she unknowingly drank “four or five” Charged Lemonades with a high caffeine content. The TikToker assumed the drinks contained a “normal amount of caffeine.”
While Baus emerged from her experience with millions of TikTok views, some others weren’t so lucky, according to a series of lawsuits against the bread chain.
Panera’s souped-up refreshers contain 155-302 milligrams of caffeine (depending on serving size and flavor, according to Panera), which was pretty close to the FDA’s recommended limit of 400 milligrams per day.
According to a Panera spokesperson at the time, the chain would focus on offerings with low sugar and caffeine content. The representative declined to comment on whether any of the lawsuits directly caused the liquor discontinuation.
Sarah Katz
In October 2023, the parents of University of Pennsylvania student Sarah Katz filed a lawsuit against Panera, claiming that their daughter died as a result of consuming Charged Lemonade. The lawsuit noted that Katz had a pre-existing heart condition and therefore limited her caffeine consumption.
According to the lawsuit, Katz purchased one of the drinks at a Panera Bread in Philadelphia on September 10, 2022, went into cardiac arrest and died hours later.
“She was very vigilant about what she had to do to keep herself safe,” her roommate and close friend, Victoria Rose Conroy, told NBC News. “I guarantee that if Sarah had known how much caffeine this was, she would never have touched it with a 10-foot pole.”
A judge denied Panera’s request to dismiss the lawsuit.
The FDA told TODAY.com in October that it was investigating the 21-year-old’s death after the filing. Later that month, Panera began displaying “enhanced” information about the high amount of caffeine in the drink and added a warning to the app.
In December 2023, a second lawsuit was filed by the family of Dennis Brown, a Florida man who also died after drinking more than one Charged Lemonade.
Brown, who was 46, drank three of the high-caffeine drinks before going into cardiac arrest in October, according to the complaint, which also noted that Brown did not consume energy drinks because he had high blood pressure.
It is unclear whether Brown knew the drinks contained high levels of caffeine. The lawsuit notes that the stimulant-laden sips “were offered alongside all of the store’s non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated beverages.”
Panera expressed its “deep condolences to Mr. Brown’s family” but denied claims that his death was caused by their drinks.
“Based on our investigation, we believe that his unfortunate death was not caused by any of the company’s products,” Panera said in a statement. “We also consider this lawsuit, filed by the same law firm as a prior claim, to be without merit. Panera firmly stands behind the safety of our products.”
In January, Lauren Skerritt, a 28-year-old Rhode Island resident, filed a third lawsuit against the chain. The lawsuit alleged that the caffeinated lemonade caused her to suffer “permanent heart damage.” According to the lawsuit, Skerritt worked as an occupational therapist and was an athlete with no underlying health conditions who regularly competed in obstacle course races.
According to the legal filing, she drank two and a half Charged Lemonade drinks from a Panera in Greenville, Rhode Island, on April 8, 2023, before experiencing palpitations. Skerritt then went to the emergency room and tests showed she had atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular heartbeat and sometimes a very fast heart rhythm that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart complications and more.
On March 9, 18-year-old Luke Adams claims that consuming a Charged Lemonade led to his cardiac arrest, according to a recently filed lawsuit. The lawsuit claims he stopped by a Panera Bread for a chicken sandwich and a large Charged Lemonade, noting that the teen did not know “that the Charged Lemonade was a super energy drink.”
Later that day, he reportedly started making “unusual noises” while at a movie theater with friends.
NBC News reported that two nurses and a cardiologist also happened to attend the film and that they performed CPR and used an automated external defibrillator (AED) on Adams. After being transported to a hospital, Adams suffered two seizures and cardiac arrest, according to the lawsuit.
According to medical information filed with the lawsuit, Adams’ seizure had “an unclear etiology that may have been related to cardiac arrest secondary to caffeine ingestion from Panera Charged lemonade.” The lawsuit also says there is no history of sudden cardiac death in Adams’ family, and that “heavy caffeine ingestion” was identified as the “only potential trigger” for his cardiac arrest.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
