Panera settles Charged Lemonade wrongful death lawsuit

(NewsNation) — Panera has reached the first settlement in a line of wrongful death lawsuits involving the restaurant chain’s highly caffeinated “Charged Lemonade.”

The lawsuit said Sarah Katz, 21, went into cardiac arrest hours after buying a Charged Lemonade from a Panera restaurant in September 2022, NBC News first reported.

Katz was a University of Pennsylvania student with a heart condition called long QT syndrome type 1 who avoided energy drinks per her doctors’ recommendations, per the lawsuit filed by her family.

Katz’s family believes she misinterpreted the “charged” in “Charged Lemonade” as referring to electrolytes, similar to Gatorade’s marketing, USA Today reported.

Katz’s case was the first of several to result in legal actions against Panera.

In May, Panera announced it was discontinuing the beverage nationwide.

The St. Louis-based company introduced “Charged Sips” in the spring of 2022. The fruit-flavored beverages contain 155 milligrams to 302 milligrams of caffeine. The typical cup of 8-ounce coffee contains 95 milligrams of caffeine, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, while a 16-ounce can of Monster Energy contains 160 milligrams.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.