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.
I wonder how the doctors knew that she had this lemonade and pinned it as the sole cause of her death vs anything else that could have caused it or as a combination of things since she had a condition already - the legal discussion of this in the lawsuit could be very relevant for panera
She knew she had the condition and avoided high caffeine drinks.
She did not know about the caffeine content, 390mg in the large lemonade, due to poor labeling by Panera. This one drink is 10mg less than the maximum daily dose for HEALTHY person according to the FDA.
Given the lack of consuming any other caffeine products regularly due to her knowing about their impact on her heart, it is not a leap to say the lemonade was the culprit.
Further, the lawsuit alleges harm, even if not the sole cause of death, from their product due to not making it clear to the buyer that contents has so much caffeine.
According to coffeechemistry.com, one liquid ounce of espresso can have anywhere between 30 and 50mg of caffeine. That means that a double shot will likely have anywhere between 60 and 100mg.
She bought a lemonade, without caffeine labeling, that contained 8 shots of espresso in caffeine. Cause of death or not, the legal culpability and reasonable expectation that this would not be in its contents is clear as day.
This will never go to trial.
I know nothing about this lawsuit but if she ordered this from a delivery app then there would be zero indication during purchasing that it is caffeinated
I saw a picture of the lemonade dispenser herw and the caffeine content was shown quite clearly
The caffeine content was on the label but rather small for such an extreme amount. Additionally, it was not put in relation to anything for 2 of the 3 lemonades, they only wrote the coffeine content in milligram, very few people can relate to this information without looking it other drinks.
For one of them, it claimed to be in similar strength as their coffee, which was a lie according to the lawsuit, as their coffee has “normal” coffeine content.
It’s not a lie. 30oz of the lemonade has as much caffeine as 30oz of their dark roast coffee. That’s a lot of coffee.
I have rechecked the image and the coffee comparison was for 2 out of 3.
You are right, that the concentration of the caffeine was as high as it is in a normal cup of coffee. But the caffeine content was given as an absolute value not as a concentration, so it was misleading. But you are right, it was not a lie.
Their text can be easily interpreted as an comparisons of the large or small lemonade with a large or small cup of coffee. Which is not an unreasonable thought, as 30 oz of Cola has roughly the same amount of coffeine (83 mg) as 1 cup of coffee (96 mg, according to Mayo Clinic).
“As much as our dark roast coffee” isn’t an absolute value, but I think there really should be a sticker saying “Warning: high caffeine content / approx (x mg small) (y mg med) (390mg large)”. This sticker should appear clearly next to the menu items as well as on the cups. Self-serve stations should probably be removed since kids are vastly more likely to drink a ton of lemonade compared to hot, black coffee.
I drank a few of these not sure if it was “as much as a regular coffee” or “as much as an equivalent size.” I didn’t think twice because I take a lot of caffeine anyway, but I shouldn’t have had to google it.
I can see how depending on the circumstances of obtaining the drink, one might not know there is caffeine in it at all:
ordering from a third party online app that doesn’t have all the right names, descriptions, and pictures
ordering through a third party proxy or having the item described to you by a third party (“anyone want anything? They have lemonade…”)
There really should be a clear notice right on the thing you’re about to drink from, of exactly how much caffeine is in it. No marketing crap (“it’s charged!”) or vague comparisons (“as much as our coffee”) suffices.