Sarah Katz steered clear of energy drinks because she knew they could be risky for her, but the 21-year-old college student with an underlying heart condition didn’t know to avoid Panera Bread’s Charged Lemonade, her shattered mother says.
Katz, a standout undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania, died from cardiac arrest in September 2022 after consuming the highly caffeinated beverage at a Panera store in Philadelphia, where it wasn’t marketed as an “energy drink,” Katz’s mother said.
“Sarah didn’t know this was an energy drink,” Jill Katz told Newsweek. “She was never banned from coffee, they just said stay away from energy drinks and this was not labeled as such. So, she didn’t know.”
Katz’s parents are now suing Panera for unspecified damages, alleging the Charged Lemonade that contained up to 390 milligrams of caffeine per 30 ounces made it a “dangerous energy drink” despite not being labeled as such, the family’s lawsuit claims. It is one of at least four lawsuits associated with the now-discontinued Charged Lemonade.
The parents also want their daughter’s death to spark greater transparency and additional regulation on increasingly ubiquitous energy drinks, which may be linked to sudden cardiac arrest, a recent study found. The Food and Drug Administration has a recommended daily limit of 400 milligrams of caffeine — little more than in that one Panera drink — but some people are much more susceptible than others.
Read more at Newsweek.com
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