What’s wrong with Panera’s Charged Lemonade? Details explored as brand flashes warning after a lawsuit

A recent lawsuit against Panera seems to have compelled the chain to display enhanced disclaimers about the high caffeine content in its Charged Lemonades. Filed this Monday in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, the lawsuit comes from the family of a deceased young woman who died after allegedly drinking the chain's Charged Lemonades last year.

The lawsuit urges that the Charged Lemonade is a 'dangerous energy drink' and that the chain was well aware that it:

"could injure children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people sensitive to caffeine - including those with underlying heart problems - by causing catastrophic injuries and/or death."

As per the lawsuit, an Ivy League student, Sarah Katz, suffering from a heart condition, died of the high caffeine content in the Charged Lemonades in September 2022.

The young lady was diagnosed with 'long QT syndrome' ever since she was five and strictly followed her doctor's advice to keep away from energy drinks and large amounts of caffeine.

Panera stores started displaying enhanced disclaimers on its Charged Lemonades following the lawsuit (Image via Panera)

The lawsuit argues that Panera's lapses in warning consumers adequately about the high caffeine content and the presence of ingredients like guarana extract (a popular stimulant) in its Charged Lemonades cost Sara her life.

The lawsuit further states that soon after drinking a Charged Lemonade, Sara experienced a cardiac arrest while with her friends, and was rushed to a hospital where she had another cardiac arrest and was ultimately pronounced dead.

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FDA continues to investigate causes behind Sara Katz's death after allegedly drinking Panera's Charged Lemonade

Ever since their first launch, Panera's Charged Lemonades have been in the news several times due to their high caffeine content. Containing over 390 milligrams of caffeine in each 30-fl oz cup, the lemonade hits pretty close to the 400-milligram daily safe limit suggested by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

While there have been several cases where people talked about instances of wheezing and excessive alertness after drinking the Charged Lemonades, Sara Katz's death came as a massive shock for many people. Even Panera took some lessons from the incident and lawsuit as enhanced disclaimers for the Charged Lemonades have already started appearing at stores.

However, Elizabeth Crawford, the representative for Katz's family in this lawsuit, argued that all these attempts are misleading. According to Crawford, neither do they indicate that the beverage itself is an energy drink nor do they specify the amount of caffeine it contains in each serving.

She acclaimed the changes but also didn't hold back from saying that those were merely baby steps.

A picture of the Charged Lemonade dispensers from the store where Sarah Katz got her drink was attached along with the court filing (Image via Philadelphia Court of Common)

Victoria Rose Conroy, Sara's close friend and roommate, put some light on how the lack of adequate information or disclaimers may have caused her ever-so-vigilant friend to take her guard down:

“She was very, very vigilant about what she needed to do to keep herself safe. I guarantee if Sarah had known how much caffeine this was, she never would have touched it with a 10-foot pole,” Conroy said.

Talking about the issue, a representative for the FDA told the press that the federal agency is currently 'gathering information' on the incident of Sara Katz's death that happened last year in September 2022.

As per comments from Sara's friend, she had at least one large serving of Panera's Charged Lemonade a few hours before her death, and another Charged Lemonade a few days before her demise.

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As of now, the matter remains to be heard in the court and an expected date of hearing has not been revealed yet.