November 2025

What is the Charged Lemonade scandal? Charged Lemonade made headlines in October 2023 when the parents of a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student with a heart condition filed a lawsuit alleging that their daughter, Sarah Katz, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest after consuming a cup of the drink. Panera Bread will pull its infamous Charged […]

What happened to the Charged Lemonade at Panera? In May 2024, the fast-casual chain announced it would be removing Charged Lemonade products from its menu nationwide. It said at the time that the change was part of a greater menu transformation. Previously, all lemonade at McDonald’s was supplied by Minute Maid, but taking its place

Can kids drink Panera Charged Lemonade? After NBC News broke news last year of the Katz family’s lawsuit, which referred to Charged Lemonade as “a dangerous energy drink,” Panera put more detailed disclosures in all of its restaurants and on its website warning customers to consume Charged Lemonade in moderation, stating that it is not

Who should avoid Panera Charged Lemonade? The Panera website currently states that the Charged Lemonades are not recommended for “children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant or nursing women. The company said the decision was part of a “menu transformation,” which would focus on “low sugar and low-caffeine options. Panera Bread announced Wednesday that it’s phasing

Did Panera Bread discontinue Charged Lemonade? Panera Bread is phasing out its ‘Charged Lemonade’ drinks. Why consuming too much caffeine can be dangerous. Two years ago, Sarah Katz bought a Charged Lemonade drink from a Philadelphia Panera Bread and hours later she went into cardiac arrest and died. The parents said their daughter had no

Is Panera’s Charged Lemonade healthy? No, the new Panera charged lemonades are not healthier alternatives to coffee or espresso. The main reasons, in my professional opinion, are ingredients needing more research on healthfulness and total sugar content contributing to “empty calories. Panera’s “Charged Lemonade” includes sugar, caffeine, coffee extract and guarana extract, which are both

What removes caffeine from coffee? Caffeine is removed from green (unroasted) coffee beans (directly or indirectly) by various extraction methods using organic solvents like ethyl acetate or dichloromethane or with super-cooled carbon dioxide which preferentially solubilizes caffeine. Our decaf coffees in the UK & Ireland are made with a process which uses water to dissolve

Why is dichloromethane used in caffeine extraction? Here the organic solvent Dichloromethane is used to extract caffeine from aqueous extract of tea powder because caffeine is more soluble in dichloromethane (140mg/ml) than it is in water (22mg/ml). The most common is the European Method, which has five steps. The coffee beans are steamed to open

How to remove caffeine from tea? There are two ways to decaffeinate tea: you can either strip the caffeine from the tea using the solvent Ethel Acetate {which is also remarkably good as a paint hardener} or you can combine the tea with CO2 in a high-pressure environment to transfer the caffeine from the tea

What is caffeine powder made of? Natural caffeine is extracted from the plant to be used in different foods and beverages. Found in more than 60 species of plants across the globe, caffeine comes from the seeds of coffee beans, cacao beans and Kola nuts; the leaves and buds of tea; the leaves of Yerba