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submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Sarah Katz, 21, had a heart condition and died hours after she drank Panera’s Charged Lemonade, a large cup of which contains more caffeine than Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined.

All Panera Bread restaurants are now displaying "enhanced" disclosures about the restaurant chain’s highly caffeinated lemonade, a spokesperson said Saturday, following a lawsuit that was filed by the family of a young woman who died after drinking the beverage.

Monday's lawsuit, which was first obtained by NBC News, alleges that Sarah Katz, an Ivy League student with a heart condition, died after she drank Panera’s Charged Lemonade last year.

A large Charged Lemonade contains 390 milligrams — nearly the 400-milligram daily maximum of caffeine that the Food and Drug Administration says healthy adults can safely consume.

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[-] Case@lemmynsfw.com 50 points 1 year ago

I feel like every beverage containing caffeine should have its total content labeled.

Not because I'm sensitive or anything, I just need the biggest dose I can find in the morning.

Then again, I've been addicted to caffeine since child hood. I quit once, it was thought to be disturbing my sleep; NOPE! Just bipolar mania fucking it up.

If anyone is concerned, I'm on meds and doing well - I still might stab someone in the morning over getting in the way of caffeine though.

[-] AstridWipenaugh@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago
[-] Skullgrid@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago

I had no opinion until I read this thread.

I'm a person that suffers from addiction to food, for lack of better phrasing. As in, I am currently going to therapy and a nutricionist and have won this battle a few times before.

I usually think sugar laws are BS, but taxes are a way of making things more "balanced without bans".

850 ml of somethig should not have 14% of its weight come from sugar. That's insane. No serving of something should contain 124 grams of sugar, except ... sugar. You're basically eating a quarter pounder made of sugar when you're drinking this. Like, eating an eighth of a 1kg bag of sugar is basically the same thing as drinking this. Holy fuck.

I like coffee, caffeinated drinks, etc etc. I like science and technology and bizarre nutrition (protein powders, BCAAs, etc). I didn't know what the "safe adult limit" of caffeine was, except that you'd have to drink several cups of coffee extremely quickly. There have been days , especially at uni where I'd drink 3 large energy drinks, and feel my heart react to it and think "yeah, that's enough".

The "warning" on the drink is completely contextless and ignoreable. "Oh ok, it's got caffeine in it, 389mg, wild". No wonder the woman just grabbed it and went on with her day and died.

Also, it's a complete waste of advertising potential. If a drink advertises "ALMOST LETHAL AMOUNTS OF CAFFEINE!" you might want to drink it more for that reason, "Charged lemonade" makes it sounds like it's got a hint of lime in it as well as lemons.

[-] Psythik@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

To be fair, Panera has always labeled the caffeine content of its drinks. Problem is that people don't read the god damn label on the machine, forcing Panera to make it bigger and more obvious.

[-] shottymcb@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The staff nationwide were instructed to tell customers that it has "About as much caffeine as our dark roast" when asked about the caffeine content though.

[-] PurplePropagule@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago

That is correct. If you compare the caffeine content per ml to most coffees, you'll find that it's essentially the same. Star bucks coffee, for example, has 410mg for their large cup which is actually more per ml than the lemonades have.

[-] abraxas@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

It's actually about 2/3 the caffeine of any of the most popular coffee blends in the US. It's also only ~2/3 of the caffeine of Panera's own Light Roast. That's why they explicitly compare its caffeination to their dark roast.

[-] Ender2k@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

...which is accurate.

[-] Ataraxia@sh.itjust.works -1 points 1 year ago

Because people are idiots. If they put the mg most people will have no fucking clue what it means and assume it's a safe amount.

[-] abraxas@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

Ironically, this new warning is a lot smaller than the label, and less visible. It's just CYA protections from a company it seems that for the first time in a long time, didn't actually fuck up.

[-] buzz86us@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

I really don't get this lawsuit it is clearly labeled on the app, and the dispensers.

[-] broface@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago

Sounds like you were given too much stimulation as a child and now anything less makes you uncomfortable.

this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2023
546 points (97.7% liked)

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