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A Panera Mango Yuzu Citrus Lemonade.
New York CNN –
Panera is being sued again after another customer allegedly died after drinking the chain’s caffeinated soda.
Dennis Brown was a 46-year-old man with a chromosomal deficiency disorder, ADHD and high blood pressure who avoided energy drinks, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed this week by his mother, brother and sister. A loyal Panera customer, he began regularly ordering “loaded lemonade” in late September, according to the lawsuit.
On Oct. 9, Brown, who had mild mental retardation and blurred vision and developmental delay but lived independently, ordered a charged soda and allegedly refilled his cup twice over the course of about an hour and a half, the lawsuit says. He suffered a heart attack on the way home and was pronounced dead at the scene if it is found unresponsive.
The lawsuit is similar to another wrongful death lawsuit filed earlier this year by the parents of Sarah Katz, a 21-year-old woman who died in September 2022 after drinking Panera’s accused soda. According to that lawsuit, Katz was diagnosed with a heart condition called long QT syndrome when she was five years old and was able to manage her symptoms by taking medication and limiting caffeine consumption.
In a statement about the latest lawsuit, Panera said it “expresses our deepest condolences to Mr. Brown’s family,” adding, “Based on our investigation, we believe his unfortunate death was not due to any of the company’s products.”
Panera added: “We believe this lawsuit, filed by the same law firm as a previous lawsuit, is equally without merit. “Panera stands firm on the safety of our products.” Lawyers from the law firm Kline & Specter are representing both families.
Brown’s lawyers argue that the drink should have been marketed in stores as an energy drink because of the amount of caffeine and sugar per serving. But the self-service drink was not labeled as such and was According to the lawsuit, sold together with non-caffeinated or less caffeinated drinks.
“Panera Charged Lemonade is a juice drink marketed to both children and adults,” the lawsuit states.
“This marketing is particularly dangerous to a vulnerable population, children and adults, who would reasonably believe that this product is soda and is safe for consumption,” the complaint states, adding that the drink is also dangerous because It is mixed on employees’ premises. Therefore, the caffeine content is not subject to strict controls.
Katz, who died last year, may have believed the caffeinated drink was regular soda, her parents alleged in the lawsuit they filed against Panera.
Katz suffered cardiac arrest and died after being transported to a hospital He was reportedly hospitalized and suffered a second arrest Legal action. “We will work quickly to thoroughly investigate this matter,” Panera said in a statement at the time. The case remains open.
Panera declined Tuesday to comment on whether it has changed the composition of its drink, but it appears that it has reduced the amount of caffeine per serving.
According to Panera’s website, supercharged drinks contain between 150 and 158 milligrams of caffeine per 20-ounce serving, less than a 20-ounce cup of Panera’s dark roast coffee, which contains about 268 milligrams of caffeine. An online description of the caffeinated soda advises customers to “use it in moderation” and notes that it is “NOT recommended for children, caffeine-sensitive individuals, pregnant or breastfeeding women.”
However, the latest lawsuit said a 20-ounce serving of supercharged soda contained about 260 milligrams of caffeine. CNN reported in October that a large cup, which comes in a 30-ounce cup, contained about 390 mg of caffeine, the same caffeine-per-ounce ratio. At the time, Panera’s website compared the supercharged soda to its dark roast coffee in terms of caffeine content. According to Panera’s website, a 30-ounce filled Panera drink contains no more than 237 milligrams of caffeine.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “healthy adults” should be able to safely consume about 400 milligrams of caffeine daily.
— CNN’s Eva Rothenberg contributed to this report.