Panera Bread Cuts Ties With Highly Caffeinated Lemonade After Deaths

DEBARYLIFE – After being linked to at least two deaths in lawsuits, Panera Bread has decided to discontinue selling their extremely caffeinated Charged Lemonade.

The University of Pennsylvania student Sarah Katz, age 21, had a cardiac issue. Her family filed a lawsuit in October, claiming that she passed away after drinking the beverage.

The family of Dennis Brown of Florida filed a second complaint in December. His developmental delay was caused by a genetic deficient condition. As per the lawsuit, he also passed away subsequent to consuming Charged Lemonade.

Additionally, Rhode Island resident Lauren Skerrit, 28, filed a lawsuit against the firm alleging that the drink caused “permanent cardiac injuries.”

Tuesday saw the announcement by a Panera representative that the drink would be eliminated as part of a “recent menu transformation.”

The representative told NBC News, “We listened to more than 30,000 guests about what they wanted from Panera, and are focusing next on the broad array of beverages we know our guests desire — ranging from exciting, on-trend flavors, to low sugar and low-caffeine options.”

As much caffeine as our Dark Roast coffee, but is plant-based and clean, according to the advertisement.

In contrast, every size of dark roast coffee on the menu has less caffeine (390 mg) than the large-size version of the drink.

As an illustration, there are 34 milligrams of caffeine in a Coke can, 77 milligrams in an 8.4 oz Red Bull energy drink, and 268 milligrams in a 20 oz Panera Cafe Blend Dark Roast Coffee.

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It is generally safe for healthy persons to consume 400 mg of caffeine per day, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.

NBC News was informed by Katz’s friend Victoria Rose Conroy that the person who bought the lemonade probably didn’t realize it included almost a full day’s worth of caffeine. Given her cardiac condition, she claimed Katz was “vigilant” about what she ate.

Ms. Conroy assured the presenter that Sarah would never have touched the item with a 10-foot pole if she had realized how much caffeine it contained.

After Katz passed away, a Panera representative informed NBC News that all of the restaurants now have disclosures regarding the drink.

We learned this week of Sarah Katz’s untimely death, which made us sad. We have improved the caffeine disclosure for these beverages at our bakery-cafés, on our website, and the Panera app while our research is still underway, as a precautionary measure,” a Panera representative stated in 2023.

Despite expressing condolences for the deaths linked to the cases, the firm insists that the victims’ “unfortunate passing was not caused by one of the company’s products.”

Declared its support for the drinks’ safety. About the third case filed by Ms. Skerrit, it has remained silent.

Managerial documents indicating the drink’s phase-out over the next two weeks were revealed by two Panera employees who talked to NBC News on the condition of anonymity.

Panera took a “good step” with the change, according to Elizabeth Crawford, an attorney for the plaintiffs in the lawsuits.

She said to NBC News, “To the extent that we can, this is precisely what we set out to do—to ensure that this poison is removed from sales.”

Although the move won’t raise the dead, according to her, it will “prevent this from happening to someone else”.