FILE – Dispensers for charged lemonade, a caffeinated lemonade drink, at Panera Bread, Walnut Creek, California, March 27, 2023.
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.
Last 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.
The legal complaint called Charged Lemonade a “dangerous energy drink” and argues that Panera failed to adequately warn consumers about its ingredients, which also include guarana extract, another stimulant. The large cup contains more caffeine than standard cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined, as well as the equivalent of almost 30 teaspoonfuls of sugar.
The caffeine content of Panera’s Charged Lemonade has always been listed in-store, Panera said. But in an exclusive statement to NBC News on Saturday, Panera said all of its stores throughout North America added more detailed disclosures about the beverage in the past several days.
Read the full story at NBCNews.com.
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