Sarah Katz, 21, had a heart condition and died hours after she drank Panera’s Charged Lemonade, a large cup of which contains more caffeine than Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined.

Sarah Katz, 21, had a heart condition and died hours after she drank Panera’s Charged Lemonade, a large cup of which contains more caffeine than Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined.

All Panera Bread restaurants are now displaying “enhanced” disclosures about the restaurant chain’s highly caffeinated lemonade, a spokesperson said Saturday, following a lawsuit that was filed by the family of a young woman who died after drinking the beverage.

Monday’s lawsuit, which was first obtained by NBC News, alleges that Sarah Katz, an Ivy League student with a heart condition, died after she drank Panera’s Charged Lemonade last year.

A large Charged Lemonade contains 390 milligrams — nearly the 400-milligram daily maximum of caffeine that the Food and Drug Administration says healthy adults can safely consume.

  • Odigo2020@lemmy.zipEnglish
    266·
    1 year ago

    I get what you’re saying, but, for me, it would never even cross my mind that lemonade would ever have caffeine in it to start, let alone an insane amount like Panera has.

        • TheMauveAvenger@lemmy.world
          512·
          1 year ago

          Charged with flavor? Charged with fun? It’s got electrolytes?

          You kind of just proved my point. Stopping to think about it because of the name. At minimum I would not expect it to be regular lemonade with that name so I would want to know what makes it different.

          • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
            94·
            1 year ago

            Their point is that you wouldn’t stop to think about it. It’s branding, it’s meaningless. It doesn’t say “caffeine.”

            • Venti@lemmy.world
              3·
              1 year ago

              It is also next to other normal lemonades like it belongs there and not in the “coffee” section.

      • subignition@kbin.social
        164·
        1 year ago

        I would expect it to have caffeine content comparable to soda or tea. This 30 oz drink has about as much caffeine as four 12 oz Red Bulls

        edit: It’s not even behind the counter?? At least drip coffee, which is one of the only beverages that can exceed the caffeine content at issue here, doesn’t come sweet enough by default that it’s tempting to have a refill.

        Crawford said if Charged Lemonade is going to remain on the menu, it should be less accessible to customers. She said she thought that it should be behind the counter and that it shouldn’t be eligible for refills.
        “By virtue of it being part of the Unlimited Sip Club, it’s suggesting to consumers that it’s safe to have more than one,” she said. “And that is a big problem because it’s not safe to have one, let alone more than one.”

        • CaptPretentious@lemmy.world
          53·
          1 year ago

          Drip coffee isn’t kept behind the counter because people can overcaffeinate themselves.

          First off tons of places put out drip coffee in crafts. Example Pizza Ranch. Many restaurants will just drop off a craft of coffee at your table if you ask for it.

          You can literally fill an entire shopping cart with caffeine at the grocery store.

        • CaptPretentious@lemmy.world
          27·
          1 year ago

          So what do you do with your cell phone at night…

          What do you call that thing when you plug it in to the device that’s plugged into the wall and then plugs into the phone what do you call that. And then when that process is done you would say that your phone is fully what…

          Also if you don’t know something and you see something new, you do know that you can just ask about it. “This is called charged lemonade what’s in it?”

      • snooggums@kbin.social
        92·
        1 year ago

        Charged could mean the flavor, not stimulants, because it is a vague and meaningless term.

        • CaptPretentious@lemmy.world
          19·
          1 year ago

          So you flavor your phone every night?

          A person can literally just ask what’s in it. You can do that every restaurant you can ask what’s in everything.

            • CaptPretentious@lemmy.world
              1·
              1 year ago

              At no point in your life have you ever said that you need to electrify your phone. Or that your phone is electrified.

              You know damn well charged meant energy. Be less a disappointment.

      • Ender2k@kbin.social
        812·
        1 year ago

        And has had the caffeine content for both 20oz and 30oz listed on the sign hanging from the dispenser since they launched Charged Lemonade…