In early May, Panera Bread confirmed it was phasing out its Charged Lemonade, a buzzy line of caffeinated drinks at the center of lawsuits filed against the restaurant chain.
The drinks first drew attention via influencer Sarah Baus, who posted a video on TikTok in late 2022 about her dining experience at Panera one afternoon. Baus claimed she unknowingly drank “four or five” highly-caffeinated Charged Lemonades. The TikToker assumed the drinks had a “normal amount of caffeine.”
While Baus came out of her experience with millions of TikTok views, some others were not so fortunate, according to a suite of lawsuits hitting the bread-based chain.
Panera’s souped-up refreshers contained 155 — 302 milligrams of caffeine (depending on serving size and flavor, according to Panera) skirting quite close to the FDA recommended limit of 400 milligrams per day.
According to a Panera spokesperson at the time, the chain would be pivoting to “low sugar and low-caffeine” offerings. The representative declined to comment on whether any of the lawsuits directly caused the drink’s discontinuation.
Sarah Katz
In October 2023, parents of University of Pennsylvania student Sarah Katz filed a lawsuit against Panera alleging their daughter died as a result of consuming Charged Lemonade. The suit noted that Katz had a preexisting heart condition and limited her caffeine consumption because of it.
According to the suit, Katz purchased one of the drinks on Sept. 10, 2022, from a Panera Bread in Philadelphia, went into cardiac arrest and died hours later.
“She was very, very vigilant about what she needed to do to keep herself safe,” her roommate and close friend, Victoria Rose Conroy, told NBC News. “I guarantee if Sarah had known how much caffeine this was, she never would have touched it with a 10-foot pole.”
A judge denied Panera’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
The FDA told TODAY.com in October it was looking into the 21-year-old’s death after the filing. Later that month, Panera started displaying “enhanced” disclosures about the drink’s high amount of caffeine in-store and added a warning on its app.
Dennis Brown
In December 2023 a second lawsuit was filed by the family of Dennis Brown, a Florida man who also died after drinking more than one Charged Lemonade.
Brown, who was 46, drank three of the highly caffeinated beverages before suffering a cardiac arrest in October, according to the suit, which also noted that Brown refrained from consuming energy drinks because he had high blood pressure.
It’s unclear whether Brown knew the drinks were highly-caffeinated. The lawsuit notes the stimulant-laden sips were “offered side-by-side with all of the store’s non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated drinks.”
Panera expressed its “deep sympathy for Mr. Brown’s family,” but denied claims that his death was caused by their drinks.
“Based on our investigation we believe his unfortunate passing was not caused by one of the company’s products,” Panera said in a statement. “We view this lawsuit, which was filed by the same law firm as a previous claim, to be equally without merit. Panera stands firmly by the safety of our products.”
Lauren Skerritt
In January, Lauren Skerritt, a 28-year-old Rhode Island resident, filed a third lawsuit against the chain. This suit alleged the caffeinated lemonade caused her to develop “permanent cardiac injuries.” According to the suit, Skerritt worked as an occupational therapist and had been an athlete with no underlying health conditions who regularly competed in obstacle course races.
The legal filing says she drank two and a half Charged Lemonade drinks from a Panera in Greenville, Rhode Island, on April 8, 2023, before experiencing palpitations. Skerritt then went to the emergency room and tests showed she had atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular heartbeat and sometimes very rapid heart rhythm that can lead to blood clots, a stroke, heart complications and more.
Luke Adams
On March 9, 18-year-old Luke Adams alleges that consuming a Charged Lemonade led to his cardiac arrest, according to a recently filed lawsuit. The suit claims he stopped by a Panera Bread for a chicken sandwich and a large Charged Lemonade, noting that the teen was unaware “that the Charged Lemonade was a super energy drink.”
Later that day, he reportedly began making “unusual sounds” while at a movie theater with friends.
NBC News reported two nurses and a cardiologist happened to also be attending the movie and that they performed CPR and used an automated external defibrillator (AED) on Adams. After being transported to a hospital, Adams suffered two seizures and cardiac arrest, according to the lawsuit.
According to medical information submitted with the suit, Adams’ seizure had “unclear etiology possibly related to cardiac arrest secondary to caffeine intake from Panera Charged lemonade.” The lawsuit also says there is no history of sudden cardiac death in Adams’ family, and that “heavy caffeine intake” was identified as the “only potential trigger” for his cardiac arrest.
Washington, D.C. native Joseph Lamour is a lover of food: its past, its present and the science behind it. With food, you can bring opposites together to form a truly marvelous combination, and he strives to take that sentiment to heart in all that he does.
