Panera Bread Finally Removing 'Charged' Drinks From Menu Amid Wrongful Death Lawsuits

The cafe chain announced plans to discontinue these caffeinated drinks, but it's not clear when.

By Michael Hein

Panera Bread announced that its "Charged Sips" drinks will be discontinued. The highly caffeinated drinks are the subject of two separate wrongful death lawsuits and a lot of media coverage over the last few months. According to a report by NPR, the company did not say whether those lawsuits or other health concerns were the reason for dropping these drinks.

Panera announced the discontinuation of Charged Sips but reportedly declined to comment on the exact timeline for removing them from all stores. The company does intend to roll out a new line of soft drinks with a lower caffeine and sugar content. Those were developed in response to customer input, though the company has been dealing with backlash from guests over its Charged Sips over the last few months.

Charged Sips are fruit-flavored soft drinks first introduced at Panera Bread cafes in the spring of 2022. They contain between 155 and 302 miligrams of caffeine per serving. For comparison, the usual 8-ounce cup of coffee contains an average of 95 miligrams of caffeine, but a 16-ounce Monster Energy drink contains 160 miligrams. Panera did market these as caffeinated, energizing drinks, but many customers felt it was not clear enough, and found themselves unexpectedly wired after purchasing them.

These drinks really made headlines in September of 2022 when 21-year-old Sarah Katz died after drinking Panera's Charged Lemonade. Katz was a student at the University of Pennsylvania with a pre-existing heart condition. Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Panera in October of 2023.

That same month, 46-year-old David Brown also died after drinking three Charged Lemonades at Panera. Brown reportedly went into cardiac arrest, and his family said that he had high blood pressure. In their lawsuit, they claimed that Brown avoided energy drinks because of his blood pressure, but believed Charged Sips were safe for him because of the way they were advertised.

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Panera reportedly marketed Charged Sips as a natural drink with benefits to the immune system. The caffeine in the drinks was derived from guarana and green coffee extract, which may have seemed safer to some people than other stimulants. In fact, guarana is a popular ingredient for other energy drinks. The Panera menu listing for Charged Sips was updated to say: "Consume in moderation. Not recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant or nursing women."

Panera intends to discontinue Charged Sips, but the timeline is unclear. A different line of caffeinated soft drinks is in the works.

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