Suit Blames Panera's Charged Lemonade for Another Death

Lawsuit says Florida man drank 3 of the highly caffeinated beverages before his death
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 6, 2023 3:00 AM CST
Suit Blames Panera's Charged Lemonade for Another Death
FILE - A Panera Bread logo is attached to the outside of a Panera Bread restaurant location, Dec. 20, 2022, in Westwood, Mass.   (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

A second lawsuit has been filed against Panera Bread over the restaurant chain's Charged Lemonade, which has now been blamed for two deaths. The new lawsuit says a 46-year-old Florida man died while walking home from a Panera after having had three servings of the highly caffeinated beverage, the New York Times reports. Dennis Brown, who lived independently and had worked at a supermarket for almost 17 years, had a developmental delay, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a chromosomal disorder causing a mild intellectual disability and blurry vision. He also had high blood pressure, and because of that, he did not consume energy drinks, NBC News reports. He suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on his walk home, and his cause of death was listed as cardiac arrest due to hypertensive disease.

His mother, sister, and brother, who filed the lawsuit, say Panera should have advertised Charged Lemonade as an energy drink. It's not clear whether Brown knew the lemonades (which are advertised as "plant-based and clean" and which were, at the time of his death, served alongside other less-caffeinated or non-caffeinated beverages) contain 390 milligrams of caffeine in a large serving—more than a Red Bull and a Monster energy drink combined, plus the equivalent of almost 30 teaspoons of sugar. The FDA recommends healthy adults drink no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day, the equivalent of about four cups of coffee, CBS News reports. Panera expressed sympathy for Brown's death but says it does not believe its drinks are to blame. (After the first lawsuit over a 21-year-old's death, Panera added warning labels.)

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