Investigates: Two lawsuits claim Panera Bread charged lemonade contributed to deaths

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax told you about a lawsuit filed yesterday by the family of a local man, which claims Panera Bread’s charged lemonade contributed to his death. It’s a drink with high levels of caffeine.

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Many of us enjoy caffeinated drinks, including coffee. However, a local doctor says too much of it can become a problem, and have adverse effects.

“Once you start to feel like you can maybe notice your heartbeat a little bit more, you feel those palpitations, and you feel nausea, those are some later warning sign where you may have reached your own personal caffeine threshold,” UF Health Manager of employee wellness and nutrition, Jon Vredenburg said.

Panera Bread is now the target of two lawsuits claiming its charged lemonade drink contributed to the deaths of two people.

Action News Jax Investigates first told you yesterday, that the most recent lawsuit was filed by the family of a Jacksonville-area man. 46-year-old Dennis Brown regularly went to Panera and ordered its charged lemonade, a drink he thought was healthy.

The lawsuit alleges it contributed to his death which was ruled cardiac arrest.

“They should have adequately warned about this product and they failed to do that,” Brown’s family attorney Elizabeth Crawford said. “And because of that, Dennis is no longer here.”

Panera Bread’s charged lemonade has 260 to 390 milligrams of caffeine depending on the size.

Vredenburg says you shouldn’t have more than 400 milligrams a day.

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“If somebody is not a habitual caffeine user, and they were to introduce a volume of caffeine that is maybe five to six times of what they’re accustomed to, yeah, there could be some adverse situations,” Vredenburg said.

He also says if you are a regular caffeine drinker, there’s no need to cut back – everyone has a threshold they are comfortable with.

“The thing you have to remember about caffeine, it’s the most widely used drug in the world, you know, so it’s consumed by, you know, 80 to 90% of most adults without any issues,” Vredenburg said.

Action News Jax first told you back in October about the first lawsuit involving a 21-year-old student who died after consuming the same drink. Since that lawsuit, Panera moved the charged drink fountain behind the counter and put up warning signs for customers to see when ordering it.

Panera wrote us a statement expressing its deepest sympathy for Brown’s family, but stated, “Based on our investigation we believe his unfortunate passing was not caused by one of the company’s products.”

Vredenburg said caffeine is required to be listed on a food label in the ingredients, but the FDA does not currently require the total amount of caffeine to be on a food or drink label.

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