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390 mg of caffeine? 
An Ivy League student with a heart condition died after drinking Panera Bread’s “charged lemonade,” a large cup of which contains more caffeine than cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined, according to a lawsuit.
The legal complaint, which was filed Monday morning in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and was first obtained by NBC News, calls the beverage a “dangerous energy drink” and argues that Panera failed to appropriately warn consumers about its ingredients.
Panera Bread did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit was filed on behalf of the parents of Sarah Katz, a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student who had taught CPR in underserved communities and had been a research assistant at a children’s hospital. Katz had a heart condition called long QT syndrome type 1 and avoided energy drinks at the recommendation of her doctors, according to the filing.
On Sept. 10, 2022, Katz purchased a charged lemonade from a Panera Bread in Philadelphia, according to the suit. She went into cardiac arrest hours later, said her roommate and close friend, Victoria Rose Conroy.
“She was very, very vigilant about what she needed to do to keep herself safe,” Conroy said. “I guarantee if Sarah had known how much caffeine this was, she never would have touched it with a 10-foot pole.
The charged lemonade was “offered side-by-side with all of Panera’s non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated drinks” and was advertised as a “plant-based and clean” beverage that contained as much caffeine as the restaurant’s dark roast coffee, according to photos of both the menu and beverage dispensers in the store, which were included in the wrongful death lawsuit.
But at 390 milligrams, the large charged lemonade has more caffeine than any size of Panera’s dark roast coffee, the complaint says — numbers that the nutrition facts on Panera’s website confirm. The charged lemonade also has guarana extract, another stimulant, as well as the equivalent of nearly 30 teaspoons of sugar, the complaint continues, adding that 390 milligrams of caffeine is higher than the caffeine content of standard cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined. Katz had gotten the large cup, which is 30 fluid ounces, according to the attorney representing her family.
“I think everyone thinks lemonade is safe. And really, this isn’t lemonade at all. It’s an energy drink that has lemon flavor,” said Elizabeth Crawford, a partner at Philadelphia-based law firm Kline & Specter, PC. “It should have an adequate warning.”
An Ivy League student with a heart condition died after drinking Panera Bread’s “charged lemonade,” a large cup of which contains more caffeine than cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined, according to a lawsuit.
The legal complaint, which was filed Monday morning in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and was first obtained by NBC News, calls the beverage a “dangerous energy drink” and argues that Panera failed to appropriately warn consumers about its ingredients.
Panera Bread did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit was filed on behalf of the parents of Sarah Katz, a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student who had taught CPR in underserved communities and had been a research assistant at a children’s hospital. Katz had a heart condition called long QT syndrome type 1 and avoided energy drinks at the recommendation of her doctors, according to the filing.
On Sept. 10, 2022, Katz purchased a charged lemonade from a Panera Bread in Philadelphia, according to the suit. She went into cardiac arrest hours later, said her roommate and close friend, Victoria Rose Conroy.
“She was very, very vigilant about what she needed to do to keep herself safe,” Conroy said. “I guarantee if Sarah had known how much caffeine this was, she never would have touched it with a 10-foot pole.
The charged lemonade was “offered side-by-side with all of Panera’s non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated drinks” and was advertised as a “plant-based and clean” beverage that contained as much caffeine as the restaurant’s dark roast coffee, according to photos of both the menu and beverage dispensers in the store, which were included in the wrongful death lawsuit.
But at 390 milligrams, the large charged lemonade has more caffeine than any size of Panera’s dark roast coffee, the complaint says — numbers that the nutrition facts on Panera’s website confirm. The charged lemonade also has guarana extract, another stimulant, as well as the equivalent of nearly 30 teaspoons of sugar, the complaint continues, adding that 390 milligrams of caffeine is higher than the caffeine content of standard cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined. Katz had gotten the large cup, which is 30 fluid ounces, according to the attorney representing her family.
“I think everyone thinks lemonade is safe. And really, this isn’t lemonade at all. It’s an energy drink that has lemon flavor,” said Elizabeth Crawford, a partner at Philadelphia-based law firm Kline & Specter, PC. “It should have an adequate warning.”
sounds awful