Everyone knows that teenagers run on caffeine. With busy schedules filled with sports, student-led clubs, and part-time jobs. As midterm season has come and gone, everybody needs their fix. Whether it’s coffee or matcha from a local coffee shop, or maybe just grabbing a celsius from Wawa before school, students need something to get them through long days and even longer nights of homework. Panera has introduced a line of drinks that do that a bit too well. The Panera Charged Lemonades are advertised as “the ultimate energy drink guaranteed to charge up your day,” however they may lead to serious health concerns due to extreme amounts of caffeine and sugar. 

In April 2022, Panera introduced the Charged Lemonades in an attempt to capitalize on the growing energy drink market. The popular bakery chain then released their Charged Lemonades in three flavors of blood orange, strawberry lemon mint, and mango yuzu citrus. The fruit flavored energy drinks were a hit, but consumers quickly became concerned with the sugar and caffeine content offered by the new drink. A 30 ounce Mango Yuzu Charged Lemonade contains 390 milligrams of caffeine and 124 grams of sugar, these numbers were concerning to say the least. According to Physicians at University of Texas, teenagers should be having 100 milligrams of caffeine at the most. At the same time, The American Heart Association recommends less than 25 grams of sugar per day. Junior Libby Andreson agreed that the contents of the lemonade is harmful since it “has a lot of caffeine, more than the recommended intake, [which] is very harmful for your cardiovascular system.” According to NBC News, “A singular large cup contains more caffeine than cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined.”

The fear behind the citrusy Charged Lemonades seems to be warranted with the two fatal deaths being tied to the consumption of the caffeinated drink. According to NBC News, 21-year-old Sarah Katz was a long time Panera fan, but she suffered from a heart condition (long QT syndrome type 1) and avoided all types of energy drinks at the recommendation of her doctors. However, Katz was not aware of the high caffeine levels of the Charged Lemonade, and hours later Katz went into cardiac arrest. Katz’s family sued the bakery company for wrongful death stating that the lemonade was “offered side-by-side with all of Panera’s non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated drinks.” Similarly, 46-year-old Dennia Brown, much like Katz, was a big Panera fan. Additionally, he had high blood pressure and mild intellectual disabilities, and because of the high blood pressure, he steered clear of all energy drinks. However, Brown was also not aware of the high caffeine content, and after drinking three of the Charged Lemonades, Brown went into cardiac arrest on the drive home. Brown’s family members also filed a lawsuit against Panera due to a lack of warnings concerning the caffeine content. Panera has denied fault in Brown’s death. It seems the most dangerous part of these drinks is the lack of communication about their contents, as both victims were highly advised by doctors to avoid energy drinks for their safety, yet Panera advertised the lemonade as “plant-based and clean.” Junior Daniel Quintana Rivas sympathized with the families stating that it is super unfortunate “because the families don’t expect this from a drink served at a really big restaurant, and the fact Pamera denied any part in what happened is really disappointing.”

As the target audience for this product, students at Fairfax had many opinions. Some were curious about whether or not the effects are as bad as they seem. Junior Ellie Stern remarked, “even though I know they kill people I still want to try it.” Others are concerned about the caffeine content. Junior Maya Gijon responded when asked if she was concerned about the risk, “a little bit because of the two alleged deaths but they haven’t been directly connected to the drink, there could have been underlying health issues.”

Though these statements are only alleged, there have been rumors that Panera doesn’t clean their containers due to the visible rings around the dispensers. If this is the case, over time the caffeine content of these drinks would grow as fermentation begins due to bacteria in the alleged uncleaned containers. Andreson stated, “The fact that they don’t clean the containers is even worse because then you don’t even know exactly how much caffeine you’re taking in.” The lack of consistency in Panera and their statements is troubling to many.

Junior Hannah Vintilescu actually tried the drink and shared her thoughts, “The drink is definitely not good for you, I could hear my heart beat and my hands couldn’t stop shaking” Vintilescu has no underlying heart conditions. She continued, “it’s crazy to me that this is just sold to anyone, I can’t imagine if a kid got ahold of something like this.”

Safe to say Panera’s Charged Lemonade isn’t something that should be consumed on a daily basis, or at all, but that doesn’t mean the restaurant as a whole is ruined. Panera still offers a variety of quality sandwiches, soups, salads, pizza, as well as other refreshments that don’t pose a risk to your health like soft drinks, fresh coffee, as well as teas and smoothies.