Charged Lemonade at Panera Bread gets warning label after death of college student

Panera Bread customers will now see a new warning label when ordering Charged Lemonade drinks thanks to a recent lawsuit.

The family of Sarah Katz, a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student, filed the lawsuit last week following the college student's death in 2022, alleging the highly caffeinated drink was improperly labeled and ultimately led to Katz's death caused by cardiac arrest.

Panera has since changed labels on the product, saying in a statement to NBC News they had "enhanced our existing caffeine disclosure for these beverages" out of "an abundance of caution," adding that the company was "saddened to learn this week about the tragic passing of Sarah Katz."

The chain's website advertises the "charged sips" under a menu section with a description reading, "Naturally flavored, plant-based, and Clean with about as much caffeine as our Dark Roast coffee."

Clicking one of the three available flavors leads to a page with an image of the lemonade overlayed with a large "contains caffeine" sign at the bottom. The "about" section again says the drinks are, "Naturally flavored, plant-based, with about as much CAFFEINE as our Dark Roast Coffee."

Following this is an additional warning that reads: "Use in moderation. NOT RECOMMENDED FOR children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant or nursing women."

While ad material for the lemonades still compares caffeine content to that of the brand's coffee, the nutrition information lists the "regular" lemonade size as having 260 milligrams of caffeine and the "large" as having 390 mg. The lawsuit compares this to the listed 214 mg in the regular-sized dark roast coffee and 268mg in the large, noting the difference.

Panera Bread did not immediately respond to request for comment.

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Family sues Panera Bread over alleged Charged Lemonade death

Katz's family is blaming Panera's "Charged Lemonade" for her death in a lawsuit filed against the chain restaurant in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County last week.

According to the suit, the University of Pennsylvania student collapsed hours after consuming the drink, which contained more caffeine than energy drinks like Monster or Red Bull, on September 10, 2022. She fell into cardiac arrest and was transported to a hospital where she suffered another cardiac arrest and died.

Katz had a heart condition called long QT syndrome type 1 which caused an irregular heart rhythm, so she avoided highly caffeinated drinks. According to the lawsuit, a large Charged Lemonade has 390 mg of caffeine in it, just 10 mg shy of the 400-milligram daily maximum advised by the FDA.

The lawsuit alleges the drink "was not advertised as an 'energy drink'" and the labeling failed to disclose the abnormally high caffeine content. The Charged Lemonade was displayed in the Philadelphia Panera store that Katz went to alongside the chains other non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated drinks, says the suit.

The college student was said to be an avid Gatorade drinker, which is likewise advertised as "charged" but instead referrers to the presence of electrolytes but not caffeine, which the Katz family believes may have confused Sarah. The lawsuit alleges that Katz was "reasonably confident it was a traditional lemonade and/or electrolyte sports drink containing a reasonable amount of caffeine safe for her to drink."

In a prior statement to USA TODAY, a Panera spokesperson said: “We were very saddened to learn this morning about the tragic passing of Sarah Katz, and our hearts go out to her family. At Panera, we strongly believe in transparency around our ingredients. We will work quickly to thoroughly investigate this matter.”

Sarah Al-Arshani contributing.