Lemonade Liability
On Sept. 10, 2022, college student Sarah Katz purchased a caffeinated lemonade called Charged Lemonade from Panera. Later that day, the high levels of caffeine triggered Katz’s Long QT Syndrome. She went into cardiac arrest and soon passed away at the hospital. Katz was diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome when she was five. Due to her condition, she avoided caffeine for the majority of her life. This has led her family to believe that if Katz knew about the amount of caffeine in the lemonade, she would not have drank it (New York Post).
Before this year, Katz’s death was the only known incident of this nature, until Dennis Brown, a supermarket employee suffered a similar fate on Oct. 9. Similarly to Katz, Brown did not consume energy drinks due to his high blood pressure. However, while at Panera he drank three Charged Lemonades. On his way home, Brown went into cardiac arrest and passed away the same day (NBC News).
After their deaths, both Katz and Brown’s family filed lawsuits against Panera. According to NBC News, the high amount of caffeine in the lemonade was not directly advertised prior to Katz and Brown’s death. Elizabeth Crawford, the lawyer representing Katz and Brown’s families, pointed out that their deaths could have been prevented if Panera had simply labeled the drink clearly. After Katz’s lawsuit, the chain put the label “CONTAINS CAFFEINE” on their Charged Lemonades. However, even after this, Panera continued advertising their drinks as “plant-based and clean.” If either Katz or Brown believed this advertising, they could have thought that the drink was healthy and drank even more caffeine than presumed. Freshman Roma Baeza agrees with this and believes Panera should take more precautions to ensure the safety of their customers.
“To prevent incidents like [Katz and Brown’s], restaurants can implement safety measures such as secure storage of potentially dangerous beverages, childproof packaging and clear warning labels,” Baeza said. “Additionally, staff should be trained to closely monitor and supervise the consumption of potentially harmful items.”
Although the new label does acknowledge the caffeine in the drink it is still vague and does not describe the potentially fatal volume that it contains. Furthermore, Panera’s highly caffeinated drinks are displayed adjacent to caffeine-free drinks, making it easy for people to confuse the two (Rolling Stone). Panera was then further criticized for not making the dangers of the drink known to those who are most likely to be affected by them such as children, people with heart conditions and pregnant women.
Panera spokespeople have recognized that their actions have done great damage, but the deaths of Katz and Brown cannot be undone. NBC News writes that Crawford wants Panera to own up to their actions by continuing to stress the dangers of Charged lemonade or taking it off the menu completely. Sophomore Caroline Fiamengo thinks that the brand did not promote it correctly due to fears that it would make them lose profits.
“I do not think companies should be allowed to add that much caffeine [to their drinks],” Fiamengo said. “If consumers knew how much caffeine was in these drinks they would probably not want to drink them. Customers then would not buy the drinks and the company would lose profits.”
Despite Katz and Brown’s deaths highlighting the dangers of caffeine, people are starting to ignore precautions regarding caffeine set forth by doctors (Virginian-Pilot News). According to USA Today, pediatricians recommend that children under 12 avoid caffeine completely, but elementary school children are starting to drink more caffeinated beverages than ever. As a result, school districts across the country have banned energy drinks (New York Times). Gen Z, however, still consumes more energy drinks than any other generation, leaving doctors concerned about lasting effects like high blood pressure and caffeine addiction (National Institute of Health). Freshman Kadyn Kastner consumes caffeine almost every day and feels that promotions online have fueled young people drinking more of it. “[Caffeine has] become such a staple in people’s lives that they cannot function without it,” Kastner said. “Influencers promote caffeine [in the form of] energy drinks, coffee and soda, which makes the buyer purchase it to fit in more or because they think that the influencer knows what they are talking about.”
