Panera Bread has revealed it’s discontinuing its ‘Charged Sips’ drinks range mentioned in two wrongful death lawsuits.
At least three lawsuits – two of which are wrongful death lawsuits – have been filed against the bakery fast-food company specifically in relation to its ‘Charged’ drinks.
In October 2023, a lawsuit was filed in in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas by the family of 21-year-old university student, Sarah Katz.
Katz had a heart signaling disorder called long QT syndrome type 1 and as a result avoided energy drinks as per her doctor’s advice, the wrongful death lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, she ordered a ‘Charged’ lemonade from Panera in September 2022 and ‘consumed the Panera Charged Lemonade, reasonably confident it was a traditional lemonade’, later suffering a cardiac arrest and passing away.
The lawsuit accused Panera of not advertising the drink’s high caffeine content – which is 390 milligrams of caffeine per drink served without ice.
The generally safe daily limit for a healthy adult is 400mg as per the US Food and Drug Administration.
Panera Bread is phasing out its Charged Sips drinks (Panera Bread)
The complaint also claimed that the drink was advertised a ‘plant-based and clean’ drink ‘with as much caffeine as our Dark Roast coffee,’ with consumers also urged to ‘drink unlimited Panera Charged Lemonade every day’ within the refill membership deal.
The company has also faced another wrongful death lawsuit in relation to 46-year-old Dennis Brown’s passing alongside a lawsuit filed by 28-year-old athlete Lauren Skerritt, who claimed that she’d been left with ‘permanent cardiac injuries’ after drinking two-and-a-half cups of the drink.
In a memo initially seen by Bloomberg News, the company has since revealed plans to discontinue the Charged Sips range and replace it with new beverages.
Instead of the Charged drinks, Panera is now set to introduce four new drinks.
A spokesperson for Panera told UNILAD: “We are excited to continue the success of our recent menu transformation, which began with our core options of sandwiches and salads.
The company’s beverages were mentioned in two wrongful death lawsuits (Justin Sullivan/ Getty Images)
“We listened to more than 30,000 guests about what they wanted from Panera, and are focusing next on the broad array of beverages we know our guests desire – ranging from exciting, on-trend flavors, to low sugar and low-caffeine options.
“Our enhanced beverage portfolio, including new Blueberry Lavender Lemonade, Pomegranate Hibiscus Tea, Citrus Punch and a Tropical Green Smoothie will reinforce our mission of delivering what our guests want most – amazing taste, quality ingredients and value.”
The new drinks are reportedly set to be introduced within the next two weeks and follow off the back of the company’s ‘largest menu transformation ever’ back in February earlier this year – more specifically concerning its food items.
After the first lawsuit was filed, Panera changed its display and labeling of its Charged Sip drinks.
Panera has a Sip Club which allows members to get ‘unlimited’ refills in store (Justin Sullivan/ Getty Images)
In a statement after the second lawsuit from Brown’s family, the company said that ‘based on their investigation, we believe his unfortunate passing was not caused by one of the company’s products’, adding that Panera ‘stands firmly by the safety of our products’.
At the time of writing, Panera’s website still shows three Charged drinks in the flavors Blood Orange Charged Splash, Strawberry Lemon Mint Charged Lemonade and Mango Yuzu Citrus Charged Lemonade.
The drinks contain between 155 and 302mg of caffeine, as stated by the website.
However, it notes: “Consume in moderation. NOT RECOMMENDED FOR children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant or nursing women.”