Lemonade causes cardiac arrest? The caffeine content is 3 times higher than Red Bull?!

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According to NBC News, the parents of a student at the University of Pennsylvania filed an wrongful death lawsuit against restaurant chain Panera Bread on Oct. 23, local time. They claimed that their 21-year-old daughter suffered from heart disease and died after drinking a caffeinated energy drink, but the restaurant advertised it as "regular lemonade".

Last September, in Philadelphia, Sarah Katz went into cardiac arrest hours after drinking a large glass of Charged Lemonade at a Panera Bread snack bar with friends. She was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital by a friend.

According to court documents, Sarah was diagnosed with long QT syndrome at the age of 5, which usually has no special symptoms, but can lead to irregular heartbeat, syncope and even sudden death. So at the behest of her doctor, she was very vigilant from an early age to avoid drinking any functional drink with a lot of caffeine, but now she lost her life to a glass of lemonade.

In response, Sarah's parents sued Panera Bread on Monday for being ridiculously high in caffeine and not properly labeling it as dangerous. The lawsuit alleges that Panera misled consumers by not properly labeling "energized lemonade" as an energy drink, and sought compensation and punitive damages for their daughter's suffering.

In the lawsuit, the salad parents alleged that Panera Bread promoted lemonade as "a pure plant-based drink with caffeine equivalent to our deep-roasted coffee." But in fact, his family sells lemons in 30-ounce cups and 20-ounce cups, which contain as much caffeine as 260mg and 390mg.

Panera Bread claims that lemonade contains as much caffeine as deep-roasted coffee because, in many consumers' perception, deep-roasted coffee beans feel less caffeinated than light-roasted coffee. But in fact, a large number of studies have shown that the difference in caffeine content between dark and light baking is so small that it is negligible.

For reference, a single serving of Italian concentrated caffeine is about 60~70mg, a regular American or latte with 2 shot is 120~140mg, and a can of ordinary Red Bull contains only 80~100mg. In this way, a small cup of rechargeable lemonade is as much as three cans of Red Bull coffee, while a large cup of rechargeable lemonade is close to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) recommended daily caffeine intake (400mg) for adults.

In addition, green tea and Guarana extract (a natural stimulant) are added to lemonade, which not only contains caffeine, but also contains theophylline and theophylline, both of which have a refreshing effect, according to Panera Bread's website. Therefore, the attorney clearly pointed out that this is no longer a simple "lemonade", but should be a "lemon-flavored functional drink". While Panera knows this, not only does it not warn of the "potential dangers" of drinks, but it even encourages customers to "drink freely".

In fact, there was a video complaint on TikTok on December 9 last year about the caffeine content of Panera lemonade.

TikTok user @ sarahebaus

The blogger in the video said he drank four or five glasses of Panera's "rechargeable lemonade" almost every day, but always felt more and more excited, only to find out that a regular cup of 260mg caffeine. "every time I finish this lemonade, I feel like a hulk. Although I like it, Panera, who would create a product with caffeine as high as 260mg? " As an infrequent coffee drinker, the blogger bluntly said that Panera should carry a warning when selling such drinks, as it is likely to cause cardiac arrest.

The autopsy report provided by the medical examiner found that Sarah died of arrhythmia caused by long QT syndrome and did not mention lemonade, but also pointed out that there were no other arrhythmic drugs in her system.

In response to Sarah's death, Panera issued an emergency statement on the 23rd: "deeply saddened by the tragic death of Katz, the company will stand with his family. The company has long insisted that the raw materials of its products are open and transparent and will conduct a prompt and thorough investigation." At present, the proceedings are still in progress.

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