Panera Settles ‘Charged Lemonade’ Suit After PA Student Dies: Report

PENNSYLSVANIA — Panera Bread has settled a lawsuit with the family of a Pennsylvania college student who died shortly after drinking the restaurant chain's now-discontinued Charged Lemonade, a report said.

Sarah Katz was a student at UPenn at the time of her death, according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of her family. Katz, 21, died in Sept. 2022 at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center on the heels of drinking the highly-caffeinated drink at a Panera in West Philadelphia, her family said.

The amount of the settlement has not yet been disclosed, according to an NBC News report on Monday.

Three other lawsuits have been filed against Panera Bread over the caffeine content of the "Charged Sips," which have also been blamed for a man's death in Florida and a Rhode Island woman's cardiac issues.

Philadelphia-based Kline & Specter, PC is representing the plaintiffs in all four cases. Elizabeth Crawford, a partner at the firm, told NBC News that “the matter has resolved” in the Katz family's lawsuit, but did not provide additional details. The suit had been set to go to trial this month.

According to the lawsuit, Katz was diagnosed with Long QT Type 1 Syndrome at 5 years old. Long QT Type 1 Syndrome can cause arrhythmia, a disruption of the heart's rhythm and electrical activity.

While Katz had managed her condition for years, including avoiding heavily caffeinated drinks, the suit said Panera's labeling of the "Charged Lemonade" did not properly indicate it was highly caffeinated.

Katz suffered a cardiac arrest after drinking a charged lemonade while with her friends at a restaurant in her apartment building, the lawsuit stated. She was taken to Pennsylvania Presbyterian Hospital, where she had another cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead.

At the West Philly location where Katz got the drink, the suit states the drink "was offered side-by-side with all of Panera’s non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated drinks; it was not advertised as an 'energy drink.'"

The suit continues: "These unregulated beverages contain no advertisement as an 'energy' drink and, instead, represent them as 'clean' and akin to Panera Dark Roast coffee, when they contain not only caffeine, but also the stimulant guarana and exorbitant amounts of sugar." The suit claims Panera "engaged in negligent, reckless, intentional, fraudulent, reckless, and/or outrageous misconduct."

The lawsuit filed by the Katz family said the caffeine content of Panera's Charged Lemonade ranges from 260 milligrams in 20 fluid ounces (regular size) to 390 milligrams in 30 fluid ounces (large size).

"At 30 fluid ounces, Panera Charged Lemonade exceeds the combined contents of 12 fluid ounces of Red Bull (114 milligrams caffeine) and 16 fluid ounces of Monster Energy Drink (160 milligrams caffeine)," the lawsuit stated.

The Food and Drug Administration says healthy adults can safely consume 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. Panera had originally added a warning about the caffeine contents of the Charged Lemonades, before discontinuing them entirely.

This article contains reporting by Patch's Cailin Loesch and Max Bennett.