Panera is phasing out its highly caffeinated Charged Lemonade
A Panera Bread spokesperson says the restaurant chain is phasing out its Charged Lemonade, a highly caffeinated beverage that has been blamed for two deaths in recent lawsuits, reports NBC News.
In October, a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia alleged that Sarah Katz, a student at Penn University, died from cardiac arrest after drinking the charged lemonade from Panera Bread. A second lawsuit was filed in December by the family of Dennis Brown, a 46-year-old man who went into cardiac arrest and died after consuming a lemonade at the restaurant.
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According to Panera’s menu cited by the New York Post, a large Charged Lemonade has 390 milligrams of caffeine, 10 milligrams less than the FDA’s 400-milligram daily maximum intake recommendation.
According to NBC News, a spokesperson for Panera said earlier this week that the nationwide discontinuation of the Charged Lemonade comes after a “recent menu transformation.”
“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,” the spokesperson told NBC News.
Panera declined to say when the Charged Lemonade would be completely removed from menus.