Panera Bread has reportedly reached a legal settlement with the family of college student Sarah Katz, who died after drinking highly caffeinated “charged lemonade” from the restaurant in 2022.
The Katz family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the fast food chain on October 23, 2023, in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
They claimed that Panera’s “unreasonably dangerous” energy drink was not properly labeled and did not alert customers to the high concentration of caffeine in the drink.
A serving of Panera’s Charged Lemonade contains 390 milligrams of caffeine, which is more than the amount of caffeine in a can of Red Bull (77.4 mg) and a can of Monster Energy (160 mg) combined.
Katz, a 21-year-old Ivy League student, went into cardiac arrest in September 2022 after drinking a Charged Lemonade at Panera with friends. She was taken to the hospital where she suffered another cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead, according to lawsuit details.
Her family said Katz avoided drinking energy drinks because of her diagnosis Long QT syndromeIt is a chronic heart condition that can cause a rapid, chaotic heartbeat.
Photo of Sarah Katz, 21, an Ivy League college student with heart disease who died in 2022 after drinking Panera Bread’s “Charged Lemonade” energy drink.
SF Foundation
NBC News was first to report colonyAlthough the legal agreement was later certain Written by Elizabeth Crawford of the law firm Kline & Specter, PC, which represents the Katz family.
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The actual settlement terms have not yet been publicly disclosed.
At the time of Katz’s death, Panera said it was “saddened” by the news and sent its well wishes to her family.
“At Panera, we strongly believe in transparency regarding our ingredients. We will quickly work to thoroughly investigate this matter,” a company spokesperson said.
The case was scheduled to come to court this month.
Panera did not comment publicly on the settlement.
Katz isn’t the only person to have died as a result of drinking Panera’s supercharged lemonade, and at least two other lawsuits against the soup and sandwich chain are still pending.
In December 2023, Panera was sued again over its Charged Lemonade drinks when 46-year-old Dennis Brown of Florida went into cardiac arrest after consuming the drink.
In the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Brown’s family, they said Brown had been diagnosed with chromosomal deficiency, ADHD, and high blood pressure. He allegedly refilled his cup twice over the course of an hour and a half before collapsing while walking home from the restaurant. The lawsuit alleges that Brown avoided energy drinks because of his high blood pressure.
A The third lawsuit Panera was sued in January after 28-year-old Lauren Skerritt of Rhode Island said she suffered “permanent” heart problems as a result of drinking supercharged lemonade for two and a half years. The suit claimed she was not known to have underlying health problems.
Panera has denied liability in all of the lawsuits, but added warning labels to its menu after Katz’s death.
In May 2024, a Panera Bread spokesperson said the restaurant would remove supercharged lemonade from its Canadian locations, all of which are in Ontario. The drinks were removed as part of a “menu transformation,” the spokesperson said, without mentioning the ongoing lawsuit.
The fast food chain will debut its fruity lemonade in spring 2022.
Health Canada recommends taking it for adults over the age of 18 No more than 400 mg of caffeine per day. Regular 8 oz. A cup of brewed coffee contains, on average, 135 mg of caffeine.
— With files from Global News’ Katherine Manney
&Copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
