Food Theory: This Lemonade Could Kill You (Panera)

What if I told you that Panera is deceiving you, Loyal Theorists? No, not because of their tasty bread bowls or mac & cheese. But because of their CHARGED Lemonades! This started as a theory, but it turned into something MUCH more serious. It certainly made me revved up and ready to warn you about the dangers of caffeine …


Need Royalty Free Music for your Content? Try Epidemic Sound.

Want More FOOD THEORY?

Join our other Theorist Communities!

Credits:
Writers: Matthew Patrick and Brittany Leigh Turnbull
Editors: Tyler Mascola, Brandon_n_motion, and Danial "BanditRants" Keristoufi
Assistant Editor: GeekyPeanut
Sound Designer: Yosi Berman

#Panera #PaneraBread #Caffeine #Lemonade #Coffee #EnergyDrink #EnergyDrinks #FoodTheory #MatPat #GameTheory #FilmTheory

[eric]

September 2022, a 21 year old woman died after drinking this. They are currently being sued for her death. She had a heart condition and didn't know it had caffeine in it. Literally what Matt was warning about.

[pocky_cat]

As a person who actually works at a Panera, most of the cashiers take it upon themselves to warn parents about the caffeine in the chargers for children

[yagirlchoco]

I'm here after the sad and avoidable death of David Brown. Now two people with heart conditions have died because of the drink. This is more than frustrating since both could be with us today, enjoying their lives with their families, if this drink was actually advertised correctly.

[Supah_Sassy]

Here after Sarah Katz’s death… Mat was exactly right, and they’re probably going to dodge the lawsuit with the fine print serving size, too. Absolutely terrible. I hope her family gets justice.

[CeestiaYT]

I remember hearing about a story of a guy who was accused of driving under the influence of drugs, even though he claimed that he had not. He said it was the noodles at a certain restaurant, though no one believed him. That restaurant was later found guilty of putting drugs in their noodles, making them addictive.

[epicmurtle]

As a Panera employee I’ve had to warn parents not to give their kids the charged lemonades.

[allthingsaddi]

Just saw that another person died from this in October 2023. MatPat, thanks so much for making me aware of this issue. You are actually saving lives. I worked as a preschool teacher, and I tell parents all the time now that these drinks are NOT safe for their kids… my coworker said she would have probably let her child drink it if she had not heard from me that it was dangerous. You probably saved several lives, AT LEAST, by making this video. Thank you so so much

[robinabow]

I once had two large charged lemonades at Panera because I had no idea how much caffeine was in it. That resulted in the worst panic attack I've ever had which lasted for 3 days straight. I guess it all makes sense now.

[em.ptrson]

Absolutely they need to advertise this better. I ordered one the other day, not even realizing it was a “charged lemonade”. I thought it was a flavored lemonade. I am 13 weeks pregnant, the recommended daily max of caffeine during pregnancy is 200mg. Thankfully when the cashier asked if I wanted half or full it threw me off, and I saw it was charged and looked it up in time, but I could have easily missed it and consumed an unsafe amount of caffeine.

[cyprusmiraque]

I work for Panera, and AS SOON as I found out about how much caffeine is in these (around four months ago) I immediately warned pretty much everyone I talked to regularly.

[shadow]

I'm sad to say that this drink killed someone.
A girl, who had a heart condition, lost her life after drinking this lemonade. She had no idea the lemonade had caffeine and her family is now suing the company.

[nguyenduyphuc]

And what's do you know, a young lady in Florida recently died from this drink. Panera saw all that red flags and decided it's probably fine

[RichardStarfish]

I’ll always remember the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade that makes someone overdose on caffeine which could cause kidney failure and might make them come back for more.”

[marionmarionette]

I was friends with the sister of the 16 year old who passed away from caffeine overdose. It was a huge deal for our school, since he passed away in class, and actually scared me away from caffeine to this day. On the bright side of such a sad story, our school created a music room to honor his memory since he was so into music. Hope he rests in peace and that his story serves as a warning to other underaged kids against too much caffeine

[SirAsdf]

Update from 8 months later, that lemonade did in fact end up killing someone.

[Tasterbathbmb]

To think that now TWO people have passed from this drink. Panera needs to be held accountable.

[nerdydrawer]

The fact that the comments I’m seeing of Panera employees saying they have to warn people of the caffeine level and it’s just out of moral obligation and not by any official protocol is nuts

[BabyGirl-ymzo]

As a Panera employee I drank our new lemonades like 2 days in a row and had the worst and most severe panic attacks I've had in my life and just overall increased anxiety. I now know high caffeine makes my anxiety worse I've simply never exposed myself to THIS much caffeine especially since all it takes is ONE charged lemonade for it to be too much for me :) not to mention customers are getting refills of this stuff.

[Rikku]

Just saw that a 21 year old lady died and Panera is being sued for the lemonade now. I immediately thought of watching this video months ago. Insane

[Mugiwara_Didi]

I worked at Panera. I actually quit last year. I use to have to tell customers with kids that those lemonade had caffeine. Kids and homeless came in there often drinking those lemonade. And it was ALWAYS the large cups.