An Ivy League student with a heart condition died after drinking Panera Bread’s Charged Lemonade — which has more caffeine than three cans of Red Bull, in keeping with a lawsuit filed by her grieving family.
Sarah Katz was a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student last yr when she suffered cardiac arrest hours after purchasing the lemony beverage, according court documents filed within the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on Monday.
Katz, who had a heart condition called long QT syndrome type 1 — a heart-signaling disorder where heartbeats will be fast and chaotic — avoided energy drinks per her doctor’s advice, the wrongful death lawsuit, first obtained by NBC News, said.
Her college roommate, Victoria Rose Conroy, also told NBC that Katz “was very, very vigilant about what she needed to do to maintain herself protected.”
“I guarantee if Sarah had known how much caffeine this was, she never would have touched it with a 10-foot pole,” Conroy told the outlet.
Katz ordered the massive “Charged Lemonade” as a part of a meal at a Philadelphia Panera location on Sep. 10, 2022, without realizing it contained 390 milligrams of caffeine — greater than 3 times the 111 milligrams of caffeine present in an ordinary 12-ounce can of Red Bull.
In keeping with the criticism, Katz “consumed the Panera Charged Lemonade, reasonably confident it was a conventional lemonade” or an “electrolyte sports drink containing an affordable amount of caffeine protected for her to drink.”
On that very same day, Katz “suffered a cardiac arrest” while dining with friends at a restaurant in her apartment constructing, in keeping with the criticism.
The family’s attorneys accuse Panera Bread of failing to supply warning “of any potentially dangerous effects…on blood pressure, heart rate, and/or brain function,” the criticism stated.
Panera Bread advertised the drink as a “plant-based and clean” beverage “with as much caffeine as our Dark Roast coffee,” in keeping with the filing.
The beverage which Katz consumed also includes guarana extract, which is a stimulant, in addition to the equivalent of nearly 30 teaspoons of sugar, in keeping with the criticism.
Katz’s family alleged within the criticism that Panera included the beverage as a part of its “Sip Club” during which customers are urged to “drink unlimited Panera Charged Lemonade day-after-day.”
“We were very saddened to learn this morning concerning the tragic passing of Sarah Katz, and our hearts exit to her family,” a Panera spokesperson told The Post.
The spokesperson said the corporate “strongly consider[s] in transparency around our ingredients.”
“We are going to work quickly to thoroughly investigate this matter,” the corporate rep told The Post.
In keeping with the Food and Drug Administration, adults should not have any greater than 400 milligrams a day, which is corresponding to about 4 or five cups of coffee.
Nevertheless, depending on aspects reminiscent of body weight, medications and individual sensitivity, “an excessive amount of” caffeine can vary from individual to individual, the FDA warned.