Panera Bread’s Charged Lemonade is linked to demise in lawsuit

A university scholar with a coronary heart situation died after she drank a closely caffeinated drink from Panera Bread, seemingly pondering it had a secure quantity of caffeine, her dad and mom stated in a lawsuit filed Monday.

The lawsuit stated that the corporate “didn’t correctly warn” clients in regards to the potential risks of its Charged Lemonade and misleadingly marketed the drink as “clear,” although the big measurement has extra caffeine than a 12-ounce Purple Bull and a 16-ounce Monster Vitality Drink mixed.

The scholar, Sarah Katz, 21, drank Panera’s Charged Lemonade in September 2022, and died later that day, based on the lawsuit, filed within the Philadelphia Courtroom of Frequent Pleas.

Katz’s coronary heart situation, Lengthy QT Kind 1 Syndrome, impacts {the electrical} system that controls an individual’s heartbeat, the grievance stated. She was recognized with the situation when she was 5, took day by day medicine and averted vitality drinks and different extremely caffeinated drinks, the grievance stated.

Elizabeth Crawford, a lawyer for the household, stated Katz was “actually vigilant” about her well being and drugs. “If she didn’t know that this was an vitality drink, it makes the household involved about who else doesn’t know,” Crawford stated.

The reason for her demise was cardiac arrhythmia attributable to lengthy QT syndrome, based on a replica of the health worker’s report offered by Crawford. The report doesn’t point out Charged Lemonade.

In a press release, Panera stated it was “saddened” to study Katz’s demise.

“At Panera, we strongly imagine in transparency round our components,” the assertion stated. “We’ll work shortly to totally examine this matter.”

In keeping with the Meals and Drug Administration, most “wholesome adults” can safely eat as much as 400 milligrams of caffeine per day.

The massive 30-ounce Charged Lemonade comprises 390 milligrams, based on the corporate’s web site. The common 20-ounce serving has 260 milligrams, the positioning says.

On the Panera location in Philadelphia the place Katz purchased the Charged Lemonade on Sept. 10, 2022, the grievance stated, the drink was provided subsequent to drinks that had much less or no caffeine. It was not marketed as an vitality drink.

This text initially appeared in The New York Occasions.