Panera Bread’s highly caffeinated Charged Lemonade is now blamed for a second death, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.
Dennis Brown, of Fleming Island, Florida, drank three Charged Lemonades from a local Panera on Oct. 9 and then suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on his way home, the suit says.
Brown, 46, had an unspecified chromosomal deficiency disorder, a developmental delay and a mild intellectual disability. He lived independently, frequently stopping at Panera after his shifts at a supermarket, the legal complaint says. Because he had high blood pressure, he did not consume energy drinks, it adds.
As someone who has gone to the hospital for an overdose on caffeine, I really want to try one of these. Because, I clearly haven’t learned my lesson at all.
Fucking lol
Right? I’ve never gone for an overdose, but I have had jangly eyeballs once or twice.
Sounds delicious.
“jangly eyeballs” is the perfect descriptor thanks
I could vividly hear the florescent lights of a gas station once. “Jangly eyeballs” checks out
If you’ve ever had a large coffee, it’s like that. If you’ve ever had 3 large coffees and a heart condition, the same principle applies.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who keeps seeing these stories and immediately wanting to go try it.
theyre to die for ive heard
Panera should go ahead and put prominent warning labels on it. Call it The lemonade so charged it killed [name of latest victim]. It might double sales of the product.
Or like those worker safety counters: XX Days Since Last Lost-Life Lemonade Accident
Big Four Loko energy here.
Panera’s MURDER lemonade. So good it’ll kill you!! Buy one, get one on Mondays!
How much you want to bet that Heart Attack Grill is going to run with that idea.
Fast track for a lawsuit.
A little late for that, they’re already on round 2.
But they could use it as a disclaimer…
Why is a bread and soup restaurant selling energy drinks so caffeinated it will kill you if you drink it?
The same reason a sandwich restaurant uses only bread that is legally classified as cake
For those not in the know… it’s Subway.
It’s not so caffeinated, it’s about as much caffeine per ounce as coffee
Yeah, but nobody’s drinking 3 30 oz coffees in one sitting. Nor is coffee really marketed as a health drink.
A 30-ounce, large-size Panera Charged Lemonade has about 390 milligrams of caffeine, about four times the amount found in a cup of coffee.
If any sugar soaked beverage is allowed to be marketed as a health drink, that’s a problem that applies to the entire industry.
And drinking 90oz is the fault of the consumer, remember how much blowback there was when New York banned selling drinks above a certain volume? The people want to be able to do drink ungodly amounts of soft drink, apparently.
Only thing I really blame Panera for is not clearly labeling how much caffeine is in a cup, which I also don’t really blame them for because the last time I went to Starbucks or McDonald’s I couldn’t find out which latte had the most caffeine, so that’s standard behavior I guess.
Push for more required disclosure if you’d like, I’d probably agree, but Panera was not out of line IMO.
If it is an industry problem, then this sort of event is usually what snowballs into actual change.
The tip of this case, I believe, isn’t just the caffeine content, but the fact that it:
- Wasn’t exactly labeled as a high-caf drink.
- Was often next to, or in place of, non-caf drinks.
- Was marketed as part of an unlimited drinks program.
While the company isn’t required to cater to individuals with very specific tolerances of the simulant, they likely had data available to them that suggests that this outcome was always a possibility, yet they supposedly ran the product until people died.
You obviously haven’t ever worked in IT.
Also, a cup of coffee is about 4x smaller than a 30oz drink.
It’s not a dangerous drink for the majority of the population. Dude had known medical issues that caffeine can cause issues with, and drank an unreasonable amount of it.
because if it’s a normal drink but you feel good and energized then there must be some magic in that drink that would make me want to buy more of it. lacking awareness one would likely just keep drinking the infinite refills.
idiots don’t consider magic not being real and drugs being the only thing that makes you feel good. in this case shittons of atp clones aka caffeine.
I don’t want to sound like a dick, but I don’t really think Panera is at fault here. Their lemonade is no more caffeinated than standard Starbucks venti drinks.
Dennis Brown, of Fleming Island, Florida, drank three Charged Lemonades from a local Panera on Oct. 9 and then suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on his way home, the suit says.
390mg of caffeine is a lot. But it’s also commonly found in large cups of coffee. And this individual had three of them. I think Florida might want to consider ensuring mentally impaired people like Dennis Brown are better equipped to navigate a world which has leaned heavily into caffeine as a stimulant. I don’t believe that Panera is some bastion of justice and good will. I’m sure their lemonade makes every attempt to “hook” members on their product with high levels of caffeine and hiding it under sugar. However, I think this lawsuit might just mean that caffeine levels should be treated like calories: we should mandate that an estimate is listed next to the beverage so those with heart problems or the health conscientious can make more informed decisions.
400mg of caffeine is the daily maximum dose recommended by several health organizations. And that’s for healthy adults. Keep in mind that one charged lemonade had more caffeine than a full can of Red Bull, and a full can of Monster combined. It also contained a lot of taurine which increases the effect of caffeine.
The charged lemonade does not taste caffeinated, and there were basically no warnings about it in store. The marketing and in store branding made it seem like a sort of Gatorade, i.e. an electrolyte drink.
It was also sold next to the fruit juices and such. Which would imply less caffeine.
It was also part of the unlimited sips program, providing free refills. Drinking two or three would cause a healthy adult to start having heart palpitations, and those who are at risk would go into cardiac arrest after one (which is what happened with the first death)
Since the first death, Panera has reduced the amount of caffeine in the lemonade, and many stores have started putting it behind the counter rather than out in the open. They’ve also added warnings about the caffeine content of the drinks, but still don’t warn about the compounding effects of taurine.
These lawsuits are likely going to be settled out of court, because Panera did fuck up here, and they also don’t want the bad press of multiple deaths linked to their overly caffeinated drink.
A few corrections:
400mg of caffeine is not considered a daily recommended maximum, but “an amount not generally associated with dangerous, negative effects” (FDA). Most people can consume more than that and have no significant side effects.
The Charged Lemonade has more caffeine than most any other drinks… When you fill up a 30 oz container with it and don’t add any ice. If you filled up the same container with an energy drink or coffee, it would have similar amounts of caffeine.
Aside from the possibility to associate “charged” with electrolytes, none of the marketing or branding of the drink implies that it’s an electrolyte drink. Personally I would much sooner think that charged means energy, i.e. caffeine and the like, but that’s just me.
A healthy adult consuming multiple of these beverages wouldn’t likely experience any heart issues, but likely would have things like jitteriness and have a hard time falling asleep. And while people with heart conditions should definitely stay away from these drinks, “would go into cardiac arrest after one” is incredibly overblown. If that were the case, the deaths would be in the hundreds or thousands, not one or two.
Panera has only “reduced” the caffeine amounts in the drink by adding ice into the cup because they are now behind the counter, not by changing the formula of the drink.
Your last point is misinformation or a straight up lie, not sure that anything else you wrote has any validity.
Most people just correct people or offer additional information. What purpose does calling someone a liar serve? I see you found something useful that shows the caffeine was reduced but it doesn’t prove it’s not because of more ice.
Also, their statement about caffeine by volume is relevant to the discussion.
The chart is quite useless. It just says “Nutrition & Allergens” and lists a bunch of classes without establishing a base of what was measured. A same sized container or some phony-baloney “serving size” companies love to come up with? I also cannot find information on how calorific caffeine is. If it doesn’t add to calories, the difference you see in the chart is the amount of water, else the difference is a changed formula.
Credibility of content is lost when it’s couched with misinformation.
Seriously?! If it was due to ice the calories would also be lower.
In your chart, the sugar was reduced from 124g to 74g but the total carbohydrates remained unchanged at what appears to be 78g. How is it possible to reduce sugar by 40% without a change to calories or total carbohydrates?
Your information seems couched with misinformation. Should I suggest you’re lying?
I never made any claims that no other changes were present in the recipe other than reduced caffeine. If the change was “hur dur we include ice now” then the calories would most obviously be lower also. You do you and prop up whatever corporate misinformation you want, the formula was changed and it wasn’t by suddenly deciding to include ice cubes.
Carbohydrates 78g
Total Sugars 124g
I guess the interns are on Nutrition Facts duty
https://youtu.be/N4wW85WZMJQ this video is probably not the best source, but it outlines the fundamental issue, which is mostly that people don’t expect lemonade to be caffeinated and the labeling for it, although present, doesn’t highlight it at all.
LegalEagle just did a video about it as well https://youtu.be/vKwrMD7zDvM?si=ZVTJJkqSAQ495Wml
Yeah I understand that. But it’s definitely present on the label. I’m not saying they don’t have to change anything, but I don’t think they’ve done any less than is required. People with heart conditions should read the “fine” print (which seemed legible to me).
Maybe I should just go to a local Panera and review for myself. But that video showed the labels pretty clearly to me.
Edit that video has given me a more nuanced perspective. Placing the caffeinated lemonade in the same place as the original non-caffeinated lemonade is pretty sus. And the labelling should be more clear. Probably the largest label on the machine.
Its a really annoying video but the information seems fair.
They’ve caffeinated something that typically is not caffeinated though. People with conditions should be more cautious, but at some point people grow to accept that certain foods are “generally safe” for them. And lemonade sure seems like a safe-alternative if you have an issue with caffeine. Why would you think to look for caffeine in a lemonade?
Panera may not be acting maliciously - but I would say they’re being pretty reckless with this product.
This is exactly what I see the issue as. I can’t have caffeine or alcohol so I normally just drink water or if I drink soda, I spend a lot of time looking for it to specifically say “caffeine free” on the label or if that doesn’t exist I look it up or just don’t bother with that drink. The “caffeine free” is rarely prominently displayed, but certain drinks I consider generally safe like lemonade, root beer and orange or lemon-lime soda. I definitely wouldn’t drink anything called “charged” but I think companies need to be more transparent about caffeine in their beverages than they are.
Yup that’s pretty much what I said. I agree. Labels should be more clear and displayed prominently.
Sounds like you’ve come around already, but I’ll say it anyway: nobody, including people with heart conditions, should be put in a position where they have to be hypervigilant and read every word on every label just to avoid accidentally killing themselves, especially when the warning is on something like lemonade that everyone “knows” is perfectly safe.
I don’t think they need to change anything, honestly. They clearly state the amount of caffeine it contains, and that amount is safe for healthy adults.
Because he had high blood pressure, he did not consume energy drinks, it adds.
It explains it right there. He drank them without realizing what he was consuming because apparently it isn’t obvious that it’s an energy drink.
It’s an energy drink the same way a cup of coffee is an energy drink. It’s being called that by the plaintiffs because of the negative connotation “energy drink” has - zero other reason. And it’s not like Panera hid the fact that it had caffeine…
I would say it’s like 1000x closer to energy drinks than coffee, are you kidding? Monster even makes Lemonade flavors of energy drink. It’s the same thing. People aren’t drinking 30oz of coffee, then getting a free refill or two.
What Is an Energy Drink? A beverage that typically contains large amounts of caffeine, added sugars, other additives, and legal stimulants such as guarana, taurine, and L-carnitine. These legal stimulants can increase alertness, attention, energy, as well as increase blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing.
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/nutrition/energy.htm
The drink in question had no additives other than caffeine…. Sounds like more like coffee or a frappe to me.
What negative connotation? Energy drinks are incredibly popular and this stuff contains more caffeine than coffee. Also coffee is pretty unmistakable for what it is, while lemonade loaded with caffeine is not.
They failed to properly set expectations. It was self-serve and publicly available, right next to other juices and teas. The expectation of customers, right or wrong, is that those sorts of products and placements mean that you can consume them at a fairly high rate.
They know their customer base, and know that their customer base regularly refills their drinks at the self-service station. They then created a drink that is unsafe to refill, as it would cause you to breach the maximum daily recommended dose.
So, any hotel is liable if a guest drinks too much coffee from the breakfast buffet?
The drink is perfectly safe for people without health issues that make caffeine unsafe.
Coffee is very much an understood and expected quantity. It’s about expectations.
Now if a hotel spiked it’s coffee with extra caffeine, more than could reasonably be expected by the average person, then yeah, possibly liable.
They listed the caffeine content very clearly.
They’re no more responsible for someone with a known medical condition that’s exacerbated by stimulants deciding to chug an unreasonable amount than Coke would be if someone with diabetes decided to chug a 2l and went into DKA.
Not to mention that the name alone carries the expectation that there will be a high caffeine content.
They then created a drink that is unsafe to refill, as it would cause you to breach the maximum daily recommended dose.
If we weren’t allowed to get more than the daily recommended dose of anything at a restaurant, our food would be drastically different than it is.
But it’s a bit different when a single cup will have you hitting those safety limits even without prior intake, yet they still offer refills.
App lists a regular at 153mg. So 3 would be 459mg which is quite high.
3 large (235 each) would be 705mg which is a shit load.
I think the issue is mostly, A: no one thinks lemonade is gonna have that much. B: not many people measure caffeine intake to know how much 153mg even is. Is that a lot? Is that normal? Espresso shots have like half that, and if people knew that they’d probably be more wary. I don’t think many would drink 10 shots of espresso, but 3 large lemonades people wouldn’t think much of.
Caffeine defense?
Username checks out.
EDIT: That being said, I agree with you for the most part, though I would charge that am exceedingly high caffeine level such as this should be clearly labeled.
The scary part for me is that, while this gentleman lived independently, I wonder if he would have been able to make the responsible choice to limit his intake or choose another drink if he was aware of the stimulant effects. Developmental disabilities can vastly alter critical thinking of things like that.
Bummer of a situation all around.
Panera is absolutely not at fault.
This is just the news cycle drumming up hysteria because there’s not much else going on.
Yeah. Companies shouldn’t have any responsibility about selling a potentially lethal drug to the general public. That infringes on my freedom and I won’t stand for it!
I say that Panera should triple the caffeine and if people keep drinking it it’s their own fault.
Take some responsibility people! Companies should be able to sell products that kill people with impunity, if they can’t then the terrorists and communists have won!!!
The general public doesn’t have a caffeine sensitivity, so no, it’s not lethal to the general public.
That charged lemonade is going to be a big hit in 2024, I tell 'ya.
What, suicide by caffeine? I can’t say I saw that one coming earlier in the year.
It’s not pretty, being nauseous, unable to breath and convulsing for hours before dying.
I need to get more of that fucking lemonade.
Was just there, they recently moved them behind the counter, this time they were completely gone.
Panera Dead.
Free Deadsticks
Dennis Brown, of Fleming Island, Florida, drank three Charged Lemonades…
Brown, 46, had an unspecified chromosomal deficiency disorder, a developmental delay and a mild intellectual disability.
Because he had high blood pressure, he did not consume energy drinks, it adds.
Can someone explain why this is Panera Bread’s fault?
Because the drink was not clearly marked as being dangerous, a good article on this: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/panera-adds-warning-caffeinated-lemonade-stores-lawsuit-customers-deat-rcna122628
If you want the tldr: the “lemonade” was located next to regular drinks and “Photos … show it was advertised as “plant-based and clean,” containing as much caffeine as the restaurant’s dark roast coffee.”.
Apparently Panera’s defence is that each customer should look up and read the detailed ingredient list and have enough specialized nutritional knowledge to know which dosages constitute a danger to their life.
To play devil’s advocate (because I really don’t care for Panera Bread or energy drinks), but…
“Because the drink was not clearly marked as being dangerous…”
It’s actually NOT dangerous for healthy individuals. In the first death, the woman had a heart condition and knew it had caffeine in it, but obviously not her or Panera would know what her safe limit (if any) would be. Yet, she consumed it anyway.
In this more recent death, the man had multiple health risks, including high blood pressure, an “intellectual disability”, “blurry vision” and “ADHD” (not sure if he was also on medication for any of those).
Assuming it was self-serve, as most Panera Bread’s are (I believe), he would have seen this:
Now, he many not have understood what any of that means, but he also purchased this drink “at least seven times over the course of two weeks” according to the lawsuit.
Having high blood pressure means that even the sugar would create problems for him.
He ended up drinking “3 servings”, which could be up to 2.5L (!!!) worth, which killed him. That’s not a normal amount of any beverage, for any individual, in one sitting. Let alone a high sugar, high caffeine drink for someone with high blood pressure who may have also been on medication.
I guess my question would be: what else should restaurants do?
Someone with a health condition could be at risk when they overconsume on most foods that are high in one thing or another (fat, salt, sugar, caffeine, etc.)
Hell, drinking enough water in a short amount of time could kill you, so where does a restaurant’s responsibility end and the individual’s responsibility begin?
They are selling a drink where one serving contains 97.5% of the recommended maximum daily dosage of a stimulating substance. We (me at least) now know that that maximum daily dosage is 400mg, but I only know that now because people died and it was prominently feaurered on social media.
A borderline drink like this, should be locked away in a liquor cabinet or only be dispensed by a licensed bartender. When selling the drink, the cashier/bartender should then also warn customers of the danger of the contents and that they should not drink it if they have already consumed caffeine that day, nor should they consume any other caffeine during the rest of the day. Clearly they aren’t doing any of that, it’s just a container in the general food area, with some nutritional information that most people not fully comprehend.
We all constantly buy and consume stuff without fully understanding what’s in it. When buying stuff in the store, I only check the sugar contents in the detailed ingredient list. When buying stuff in a takeaway, I check nothing. I’m certainly not going to sleuth on the internet to find the max dosages of each ingredient. If a drink is put out in the open like this, then I assume that it’s safe.
Tbh, I’m absolutely disgusted by the victim blaming in this case. It’s not that man’s fault that he was not smart and him not being smart, definitely does not make this death acceptable.
Again, I’m simply playing devil’s advocate here, and I’m not taking one side over the other… I’m just exploring the evidence presented.
They are selling a drink where one serving contains 97.5% of the recommended maximum daily dosage of a stimulating substance.
To clarify, they sell this drink in two sizes. One has around the same amount of caffeine as a tall coffee at Starbucks, the other (852ml size) has under 400mg.
The FDA says that most people should have no more than 400mg (assuming they are 175lbs), but that’s only because it produces unwanted side effects and/or can have long term health effects at that dose.
The actual lethal limit is something like 10,000mg.
The issue is that he had multiple health conditions, which would be exacerbated by both caffeine AND sugar, but not if he consumed reasonable quantities. This is why he was able to have the same drink many times in the past without incident.
A borderline drink like this, should be locked away in a liquor cabinet or only be dispensed by a licensed bartender. When selling the drink, the cashier/bartender should then also warn customers of the danger of the contents and that they should not drink it if they have already consumed caffeine that day, nor should they consume any other caffeine during the rest of the day.
While I agree that energy drinks shouldn’t be sold to minors, since they are at a higher risk of harm and likely don’t have the brains to understand those risks, what you describe goes way beyond the responsibility of a restaurant.
Would you expect a coffee shop to do the same? Literally ask questions they have no business asking, any time someone orders a caffeinated beverage or shock a tray of them?
The drinks at Panera are self-serve, btw.
We all constantly buy and consume stuff without fully understanding what’s in it. When buying stuff in the store, I only check the sugar contents in the detailed ingredient list. When buying stuff in a takeaway, I check nothing. I’m certainly not going to sleuth on the internet to find the max dosages of each ingredient. If a drink is put out in the open like this, then I assume that it’s safe.
To reiterate: IT IS SAFE. People with health conditions or taking meds needs to be acutely aware of what they should and should not consume, especially if they plan to consume it in larger quantities that’s considered beyond normal.
And you also point out another problem: people assume that the food they consume is “safe”, but ignore any health problems they might have which could make any food unsafe.
High blood pressure, a heart condition, gluten intolerance, food allergy, food interaction with meds, etc… anyone with any of those conditions should be hyper-aware of what goes into their body. If they ignore their limits, problems happen.
If you do have to avoid a certain food, ingredient, or nutrition, it’s always best to ask to find out before consuming it. Or avoid it if you’re unsure.
Tbh, I’m absolutely disgusted by the victim blaming in this case. It’s not that man’s fault that he was not smart and him not being smart, definitely does not make this death acceptable.
I agree, it’s a tragedy. But I don’t think Panera Bread can be blamed in this case.
the ld50 for a 175lb person is 15,240.75mg. 10,000 can EASILY kill someone. 5,000 probably still kills 1/4 of people (i didn’t look up the curve). i would guess that 1000 is probably safe for most people, but even a 1% death rate is pretty high for a lemonade.
Apparently Panera’s defence is that each customer should look up and read the detailed ingredient list and have enough specialized nutritional knowledge to know which dosages constitute a danger to their life.
AKA the position of every libertarian ever. No big deal, just some collateral damage while the “free market” “corrects itself.”
I wonder how much of that libertarian bullshit is organic and how much part of a hidden media campaign. This entire case is giving me the same vibes as that Macdonald’s hot coffee case, where they successfully villified the victim.
But fortunately this is in the USA, there must be tens of thousands of lawyers salivating over this case.
They usually omit the part where the market correct itself only after you sue the shit out of them
The allagation is that Panera did not adequately communicate the contents of the lemonade.
I’m assuming he used a self-serve drink station, as I believe all Panera Bread’s have.
This is how it would look:
This was from another report:
“The lawsuit filed in Delaware disclosed that Brown had ordered Panera’s charged lemonade at least seven times over the course of two weeks in September and October. It also disclosed Brown’s medical conditions, including high blood pressure, developmental delay, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a chromosomal disorder causing a mild intellectual disability and blurry vision. The lawsuit said Brown believed the Panera charged lemonade was safe since it was not advertised as an energy drink.”
Now, if Brown has a “mild intellectual disability” and a “developmental delay”, and “blurry vision”, is it not possible that he simply couldn’t read or understand what the contents of the drink were?
Even the sugar, which I’m sure everyone knows is in lemonade, would have exacerbated his high blood pressure, yet he had THREE (upwards of 2.5L worth in a short amount of time!)?
“The lawsuit alleges that Panera “knew or should have known” that the charged lemonade could pose risks, particularly to children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and individuals sensitive to caffeine.”
Unless he was tricked or forced into drinking these, I don’t think that the lawsuit will be successful. Had he died consuming the food they served in moderation, there could be settlement. But even that would a stretch to win since he had a health condition that Panera Bread (or each different employee) wouldn’t be aware of, or responsible for.
gd at least limit 1 per customer wtf
Why? Starbucks doesn’t limit their coffee and it has the same caffeine per ml as this drink.
Damn I need to go to Panera
deleted by creator
I think some Panera breads still have the charged lemonade right next to the normal lemonade or something like that… making it easy to mistake the two. The lemonade also has way too much caffeine in one serving, making it extremely potent.
Yeah I see that now. Poor guy, Panera definitely needs to do better and make it clear on the menu.
While he has a developmental delay and intellectual disability, I wouldn’t blame anyone for assuming lemonade has much less caffeine than an energy drink.
Yeah that’s true, it really should be on Panera to make it clear to the average person that it’s not your regular kind of lemonade.
Since that initial big story in early october, Panera has done more to make it clear just how much caffeine is in these drinks. Prior to this, without going to their website someone might not even know they were caffeinated at all.
Very true, it really should be Panera’s responsibility to make these kinds of things crystal clear for any customer.
Maybe because the article tells you he was developmentally delayed, kinda like people who don’t read the article.
Yeah that’s on me. Just read the title and reacted while at work. Panera really needs to make it clear on the menu itself at how this lemonade is very different from the regular kind. Poor guy.
Article says he had mild intellectual disability.
This is a person who already has medical issues that put him at risk of his exact cause of death, and he knowingly endangers his own life by consuming substances - in excess - which would endanger him further. While I understand and am sympathetic to his disabilities, what I don’t understand is how Panera Bread is legally responsible for this person’s death.
Should Panera Bread put a warning label on its charged lemonade? Apparently, it’s necessary. Should they consider lowering the dose of caffeine? Possibly. But if a person in precarious physical health due to having high blood pressure - one who know not to consume highly-caffeinated beverages - does so anyway, and in excess, to the point that it causes a heart attack, I simply cannot see how the one who sold them the caffeinated drink are to blame.
A large cup is 390mg of caffeine brother… no labels, and sometimes is right next to the normal lemonade.
270mg is the norm in a potent energy drink.
A single cup of that shit would throw you into palpitations and panic, no doubt.
Yeah if those energy drinks require a warning label (and they usually have one, see pic), the lemonade should probably also come with one.
A large cup is 390mg of caffeine brother… no labels, and sometimes is right next to the normal lemonade.
Want to take a guess at how much caffeine is in a large coffee?
~270mg is the usual.
As a certified grad student loser, I would totally know. Adding a shot of espresso is around 65mg of caffeine per shot.
Most I’ve done is an americano with 4 extra shots of espresso. This is reserved for being an idiot and needing a way to maximize sleep schedules.
I’m dumbfounded that they’re allowed to sell those drinks in Canada. If it’s an energy drink from a store, there is a set limit of up to 180mg per container. (200mg for the little energy shot bottles.) We recall these things all the damn time for not having enough/adequate labelling.
Apparently though, caffeine can just magically tell if it comes from a restaurant or from a can, and it decides to be less harmful if you get it from doordash instead of from a convenience store. /s
Can anyone tell me how this makes sense? They cared enough to add new caffeine mandates and limits back in August of this year, but the buck apparently stops when it’s a chain restaurant in question. Thanks, I hate it.
and he knowingly endangers his own life by consuming substances - in excess - which would endanger him further.
Ahh but knowingly is the key word here. See, the company put the drink right next to their regular non caffeinated drinks such a regular lemonade, had no warning labels, and offered free refills on the drinks.
So how could they reasonably have known?
390mg is pushing right up against the FDAs safety limit for daily total intake.
Now, if you saw a drink called charged lemonade next to their regular lemonade, what would you think it was? Lemonade with some extra fruits perhaps?
You certainly wouldn’t think that it contains such a ridiculous level of caffeine that rides right up to the FDA safety line in a single cup, especially if they offer free refills.
Now, if you saw a drink called charged lemonade next to their regular lemonade, what would you think it was? Lemonade with some extra fruits perhaps?
No, I see the word ‘charged’ and I immediately think energy drinks.
Do red bull, monster, and starbucks put caffeine warnings on their products?
Do restaurants typically give out free refills on Red Bull, Monster, or Starbucks? “Charged” could easily be a knockoff Gatorade as their logo is a lighting bolt and I would never expect a restaurant to give out free energy drinks at the refill station.
That’s a really good point. I assumed it was a specialty drink where you have to pay for refills.
I can easily see people going overboard with this if it’s just a fountain drink like the rest of them.
Starbucks doesn’t need to on the basis that it is coffee - of course that’s going to have caffeine. It’s like putting a peanut warning on a bag of peanuts.
Red Bull and Monster call themselves energy drinks, and not lemonade. Was a bit of a problem when energy drinks were becoming popular, but now it is accepted that energy drinks have caffeine.
Even then you need to drink an entire pack of energy drinks to get the same caffeine levels as a single charged lemonade. That’s how much caffeine was in Charged Lemonades
Ahh but knowingly is the key word here. See, the company put the drink right next to their regular non caffeinated drinks such a regular lemonade, had no warning labels, and offered free refills on the drinks.
but it had a label, didn’t it? one listing its contents? how is Panera Bread responsible for a person’s lack of self-control?
So how could they reasonably have known?
He already knew he had high blood pressure and to avoid highly-caffeinated foods/beverages. he purchased and consumed something three times without reading the label which would have informed him of the amount of caffeine it contained. How is it Panera Bread’s fault that he neglected to do that and consumed the beverage anyway?
but it had a label, didn’t it? one listing its contents? how is Panera Bread responsible for a person’s lack of self-control?
And how many labels do you check for contents that a given food just plain does not contain? Because lemonades typically don’t have any caffeine in them.
Would you check the labels of a coffee in case it has alcohol? Would you check the labels of a fruit salad incase it has meat? Would you check the label of a lemonade for dangerous levels of caffeine?
You obviously wouldn’t, and as a result this could have easily fucked you up. Two cups of this, and you’d be having heart palpitations.
He already knew he had high blood pressure and to avoid highly-caffeinated foods/beverages. he purchased and consumed something three times without reading the label which would have informed him of the amount of caffeine it contained.
Because it is unreasonable to expect a lemonade to contain any caffeine, especially when the company failed to give notice of the fact.
What are you expecting him to do, read every label of literally every thing they consume, incase their packet of rice somehow contains caffeine?
How is it Panera Bread’s fault that he neglected to do that and consumed the beverage anyway?
Because they called it a lemonade, not a fucking energy drink, and gave no advanced notices that the item even has caffeine, let alone a borderline dangerous amount. And no, a tiny ass listing on the back of the retail cups is not enough.
Oh, and they offered and advertised free refills on a drink that they knew is crazy dangerous to consume more than a single cup of, even for healthy people.
How is any of that the fault of Panera bread? And why can’t you answer that simple question?
The amount in the lemonade was approved by the FDA, and it is every person‘s responsibility to check what they consume before they do so. The person had a pre-existing health condition, and that is not Panera bread‘s fault, either. 
You can’t just go around blaming everyone else for your own mistakes.
How is any of that the fault of Panera bread? And why can’t you answer that simple question?
I did answer the question. Let me repeat incase you have trouble reading.
They called it lemonade, put it in a lineup among non caffeinated drinks (right next to their regular lemonade), put zero warning labels on and offered free refills on a drink that rode so close to the line of safe daily intakes that having two would cause serious problems even in healthy people.
They basically did everything they possibly could to hide this information. A single line in an ingredients is not sufficient warning because no reasonable consumer would check the ingredients of a lemonade for dangerous levels of caffeine.
The amount in the lemonade was approved by the FDA
Nope! FDA doesn’t actually regulate restaurants, and Charged Lemonade isn’t something that can be bought in store, only at Panera restaurants. FDA officially has no jurisdiction here:
https://www.fda.gov/food/food-industry/how-start-food-business
Examples of Food businesses NOT regulated by FDA:
Retail food establishments (i.e. grocery stores, restaurants, cafeterias, and food trucks), which are regulated by state and local governments.
Farmers markets
What you’ve done is mix fact with opinion to massively misrepresent the situation. You’re welcome to try that in a civil lawsuit, but if I’m on the jury, I would vote to dismiss the case. 
What did I mix, exactly? The only bit that is opinion was me stating they did everything they could to hide the information.
They’ve put warning labels on the lemonade now (there were none before), and have also removed it from their unlimited refills club.
They’ve also lowered the amount of caffeine to a somewhat safer dose.
If you’re curious about this sort of thing, look up “eggshell plaintiff” - a widely accepted legal precedent addressing your argument https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggshell_skull
So people are choosing to drink that shit then sue the company? I’m no fan of big corporations, but this is some bullshit right there. Grown ups making their own decisions warrants a lawsuit now?
It’s what people don’t know that is causing these deaths. Charged lemonade has insane levels of caffeine. Right up to the FDAs safe daily intake limit in a single cup. People think a charged lemonade is roughly equivalent to a red bull. It is not. It is more like 4 red bulls in a large drink. And the company’s advertising itself compares the drink to a dark roast coffee, and slots the drink among their non-caffeine drinks.
The problem is that they are not making informed decisions. If you picked this stuff up randomly one day, you’re not gonna think that it has an insane amount of caffeine in it.
And they encourage people to have more by offering free refills. Remember that one cup goes right up against the FDAs safe intake limit, and that’s assuming you had no other caffeine that day. So they get a refill. Now they’re operating with twice as much caffeine in their system in that instance than the FDA considers safe for daily intake.
Right up to the FDAs safe daily intake limit in a single cup.
In four cups, rather.
Nah, a single large cup of Charged Lemonade is 390 mg of caffeine. The FDA limit is 400 mg
A cup is 8 oz. 30 oz is just under 4 cups.
Their large cups are 30oz. As in, they sold them in 30oz cups.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/panera-lawsuit-charged-lemonade-sarah-katz-death-rcna120785
To quote, and emphasis is my own:
“But at 390 milligrams, the large Charged Lemonade has more caffeine than any size of Panera’s dark roast coffee, the complaint says — numbers that the nutrition facts on Panera’s website confirm. It also has guarana extract, another stimulant, as well as the equivalent of nearly 30 teaspoons of sugar, the complaint continues, adding that 390 milligrams of caffeine is higher than the caffeine content of standard cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined. Katz had gotten the large cup, which is 30 fluid ounces, according to the attorney representing her family.”
The point is that it doesn’t have any unusual amount of caffeine for an energy drink. Saying it has the limit in a single cup is misleading when the “cup” is not a normal size.
The point is that it doesn’t have any unusual amount of caffeine for an energy drink.
It has a very unusual amount of caffeine for an energy drink, at 13mg per ounce. Red bull is at 9mg and monster is at 10mg.
That, and it was sold as a lemonade, not an energy drink. Lemonade typically has zero caffeine.
Saying it has the limit in a single cup is misleading when the “cup” is not a normal size.
It’s not misleading at all. It’s literally the cup they give you, expect you to consume and then offer free refills on.
Found the libertarian.
😂 I don’t know anything about libertarians. I don’t even know the definition of this word.
Edit: fucking grown ass people can’t hold themselves from a drink. Get the fuck outta here with this braindead bullshit. Cry me a fucking river.
I think they assumed you were libertarian because you were giving off irrationally angry vibes while sucking up to a corporation.
Many fake libertarians behave that way. It truly was an honest mistake the other person made.
Probably. But I clearly stated that I’m not a fan of corporations, how was I sucking up to a corporation. I just stated what made sense to me. People choose to drink that shit. Grown ups do it, they believed whatever bullshit that corporation told them like idiots and got themselves in trouble then started bitching about it and sued the corporation. I mean sue them to the ground, I could really care less, but do it over something right, not your own idiocy (not you, them).
Now? It’s been going on forever. It’s why all those really dumb warnings you see on everything are on said things.
True. Look at me getting downvoted by the charged lemonade drinkers 😂
Look at you not responding to the comment that explained why your take is so ignorant and calloused
It doesn’t matter, it is my opinion, and you’re going to have to deal with it ;) Or, you can just cry if that helps.
Careful not to cut yourself on that edge.
Thanks for looking out. <3
Yep the dude totally killed himself to get that sweet Panera payout. 🤦♂️
Ever heard of the Darwin award?
