Panera will discontinue its Charged Lemonade drinks blamed for deaths, including a Philly college student

Panera Bread will discontinue the highly caffeinated Charged Lemonade drinks that recent lawsuits — including one filed by the family of a University of Pennsylvania student who died after consuming the beverage — have linked to death and serious injury.

The change comes amid a “recent menu transformation,” said a company spokesperson. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the lawsuits were the cause of the drinks being discontinued, and no official timeline has been announced for when they would be removed from Panera’s menu.

“We listened to more than 30,000 guests about what they wanted from Panera, and are focusing next on the broad array of beverages we know our guests desire,” a Panera spokesperson said.

In place of the Charged Lemonade beverages, Panera will launch a series of “low-sugar and low-caffeine options,” such as blueberry lavender lemonade, pomegranate hibiscus tea, and citrus tea.

Launched in 2022, Panera’s Charged Lemonade beverages previously had as much as 390 milligrams of caffeine, according to lawsuits filed against the company. Currently, the company indicates online, the drinks have 155 milligrams to 302 milligrams of caffeine, depending on their flavor and size. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends healthy adults consume no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day.

The drinks gained notoriety in October, when the family of Sarah Katz, a 21-year-old Penn student, filed a lawsuit against Panera. The lawsuit alleged that Katz, who had a heart condition that made caffeine dangerous, died after consuming a Charged Lemonade from the company’s store at 40th and Walnut Streets in 2022. She was unaware of the caffeine content of the drinks, the lawsuit said.

In December, the family of 46-year-old Florida man Dennis Brown filed a similar wrongful death lawsuit. Brown, the lawsuit said, died in October after having consumed three Charged Lemonade drinks from a Fleming Island, Fla., Panera location. The drinks allegedly contributed to a “cardiac event” that resulted in Brown’s death, the lawsuit said.

And in January, Lauren Skerritt, a 28-year-old Rhode Island woman, filed a lawsuit alleging that the beverages gave her “permanent cardiac injuries.”

Following the Katz and Brown lawsuits, Panera issued messages of sympathy for family members. But the company said it stood “firmly by the safety of our products,” and that the wrongful death lawsuits were “without merit.”

Elizabeth Crawford, a Philadelphia-based attorney with Kline & Specter who represents the plaintiffs in the lawsuits against the company, said the litigation helped “inform the public about Panera’s dangerous energy drink.” The company’s decision to discontinue the drinks “will save lives,” she added.

“Though Panera’s decision to pull this product will not revive Sarah Katz or Dennis Brown, nor will it return Lauren Skerritt to her previous way of life — it will help prevent future tragedies,” Crawford said.