Dispensers for Charged Lemondade, a caffeinated lemonade drink, at Panera Bread, Walnut Creek, California, March 27, 2023.
Smith Assortment | Gado | Getty Photos
Panera Bread has settled with the household of an Ivy League scholar with a coronary heart situation who died after ingesting the chain’s extremely caffeinated Charged Lemonade drink.
Sarah Katz, 21, was a College of Pennsylvania scholar with a coronary heart situation referred to as lengthy QT syndrome sort 1 who averted vitality drinks per her docs’ suggestions, in keeping with a lawsuit filed final 12 months in Philadelphia.
The go well with mentioned that Katz purchased a Charged Lemonade from a Panera restaurant in September 2022. Her roommate and shut buddy advised NBC Information that she went into cardiac arrest hours later.
The criticism, filed on behalf of Katz’s dad and mom, was the primary of 4 lawsuits that Panera confronted over the beverage. A second lawsuit blamed it for a Florida man’s dying whereas the opposite two alleged that the Charged Lemonade precipitated everlasting coronary heart accidents in beforehand wholesome folks.
Panera introduced in Could that it was discontinuing the beverage nationwide.
Elizabeth Crawford, a accomplice on the Philadelphia-based regulation agency Kline & Specter, PC, who represents the plaintiffs in all 4 lawsuits, advised NBC Information on Monday morning in her first interview because the settlement that “the matter has resolved” however mentioned she was not permitted to share some other particulars.
Panera didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the event. After studying of Katz’s dying, the corporate mentioned it was “very saddened to be taught concerning the tragic passing of Sarah Katz” and it vowed to “completely examine this matter.”
A Panera Bread Co. restaurant within the Queens borough of New York, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023.
Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Regardless of the lawsuits, which referred to the Charged Lemonade as a “harmful vitality drink,” Panera mentioned the choice to discontinue the beverage was a part of a “latest menu transformation.”
The wrongful dying lawsuit filed after Katz’s dying alleged that the Charged Lemonade had been “provided side-by-side with all of Panera’s non-caffeinated and/or much less caffeinated drinks” and was marketed as a “plant-based and clear” beverage that contained as a lot caffeine because the restaurant’s darkish roast espresso. The criticism mentioned the Charged Lemonade additionally had guarana extract, one other stimulant, in addition to the equal of almost 30 teaspoons of sugar within the giant measurement.
Following the lawsuit over Katz’s dying, Panera made plenty of adjustments, together with transferring the Charged Lemonade behind the counter so it was now not self-serve and updating its diet data to mirror how a lot caffeine was within the drink when it was served with ice. It additionally added distinguished indicators cautioning that Charged Lemonade contained caffeine, must be consumed carefully and was not beneficial for kids, folks delicate to caffeine, pregnant or nursing ladies.
The Katz case was imagined to go to trial this month, with jury choice slated for later this week.
