According to a complaint, an Ivy League student who was “very vigilant” and had a rare cardiac condition passed away after ingesting a big “Charged Lemonade” from Panera Bread.
NBC News reports that on Monday, the parents of 21-year-old Sarah Katz, a student at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), filed the case in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
Last year, just hours after drinking the beverage, Katz went dead.
Katz had long QT syndrome type 1, an uncommon cardiac ailment. An irregular, rapid heartbeat may be the result of this illness.
Doctors advised her to stay away from energy drinks because of her illness and their high caffeine content.
Katz’s college roommate, Victoria Rose Conroe, told NBC News that Katz “was very, very vigilant about what she needed to do to keep herself safe.”
She claimed her roommate would never have touched the drink if she had known how unhealthy it was.
I guarantee if Sarah had known how much caffeine this was, she never would have touched it with a 10-foot pole.
According to Katz’s family, Panera Bread used deceptive advertising. The charged lemonade was allegedly “offered side-by-side with all of Panera’s non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated drinks,” according to their lawsuit.
Furthermore, they assert that it was marketed as a “clean and plant-based” beverage with the same amount of caffeine as Panera Bread’s dark roast coffee.
The complaint goes on to allege that Katz, on September 20, 2022, “consumed the Panera Charged Lemonade, reasonably confident it was a traditional lemonade” or an “electrolyte sports drink containing a reasonable amount of caffeine safe for her to drink.”
She allegedly “suffered a cardiac arrest” that same day while dining with friends at a restaurant in her apartment complex, according to the complaint.
For every 16 fl oz, Panera Bread’s dark roast coffee has about 190 mg of caffeine. It contains no grams of sugar either.
In comparison, a Panera Bread-charged lemonade has 390 mg of caffeine—more than three times the amount found in a Red Bull.
Furthermore, charged lemonade has an astounding 98 GRAMS of sugar in one large glass.
It’s enough to say that someone like Katz should never be eating a charged lemonade.
In an interview with the New York Post, a Panera Bread representative offered the Katz family their condolences and promised to look into the situation further.
We were very saddened to learn this morning about the tragic passing of Sarah Katz, and our hearts go out to her family. We will work quickly to thoroughly investigate this matter.
Dantheman