Panera restaurants plan to remove their Charged Lemonade beverages from menus in the wake of two wrongful-death lawsuits filed against the company by the families of customers who consumed the drinks, including a Florida man.
CNN reported earlier this month that the company would replace the high-sugar, caffeinated beverages with drinks containing much less sugar and caffeine. Panera did not respond to a request for comment about whether litigation prompted the menu revisions.
In December, family members of Fleming Island, Fla., resident Dennis Brown filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Superior Court in Delaware, where the company was incorporated. Brown, who had a mild intellectual disability and high blood pressure, collapsed from cardiac arrest on a sidewalk after consuming three Charged Lemonades, according to the lawsuit.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) reported that a 30-ounce Charged Lemonade with no ice could contain as much as 390 milligrams of caffeine and 30 teaspoons of sugar. The federal Food and Drug Administration says most healthy adults can consume up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day without negative effects, but the agency recommends that people taking certain medications, pregnant women and breastfeeding women should limit their intake.
In comparison, a 12-ounce can of Coke contains 34 milligrams of caffeine, and an 8-ounce Red Bull energy drink has 80 milligrams of caffeine, according to CSPI.
“Panera’s new Charged Lemonades contain appalling amounts of total sugar – from sugar, agave and apple juice concentrate,” CSPI said when Panera introduced the drinks in 2022. “... The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends people consume no more than 50 grams (12 teaspoons) of added sugar daily.”
At the Panera restaurant where Brown frequently ate meals, the Charged Lemonade was offered side by side with the restaurant’s non-caffeinated beverages and was not labeled as an “energy drink” – nor were any consumer warnings in place, according to the lawsuit.
On the current Panera website, the “Charged Sips” information does contain caffeine contents, with the statement, “Consume in moderation. Not recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant or nursing women.”
Sharona Hoffman, a professor of law and bioethics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Ohio, said there are grounds to argue that the company engaged in false advertising with respect to the lemonade drinks. To prevail in a lawsuit alleging false advertising, a plaintiff has to prove multiple points, including that the defendant made a misleading statement about the product, there was actual deception that would tend to mislead a substantial portion of the target audience and the plaintiff faced a likelihood of harm, according to Hoffman
“Merely ‘puffing’ or boasting about the qualities of the product does not constitute false advertising,” she said in an email to the Florida Record. “Consequently, (the) plaintiff often must work hard to prevail in false advertising cases.”
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Brown argues that the company bears responsibility for potential negative effects of its caffeinated beverages.
““Defendants knew or should have known that the defective and unreasonably dangerous design of Panera Charged Lemonade could cause catastrophic injuries, including … heart arrhythmias, cardiac arrest and/or death,” the lawsuit states.