Less than two months after Panera Bread announced it would stop selling its Charged Lemonade — a beverage at the center of several wrongful death and injury lawsuits — Starbucks is releasing its own energy drink.
While the drinks are similar, the coffee giant’s Iced Energy drinks have significantly less caffeine than Panera's large-sized Charged Lemonade beverage, according to NBC News.
Starbucks’ Iced Energy offerings range between 180mg of caffeine and 205mg of caffeine depending on the flavor chosen. Panera Bread's large Charged Lemonade, when served in a cup without ice, contained a staggering 390mg of caffeine, just 10g shy of the upper limit for safe consumption by an adult in a single day.
The energy drinks Starbucks is offering will all be served as 24oz beverages, and contain artificial sweeteners, taurine, vitamins, and caffeine.
Panera's now-discontinued Charged Lemonade drink contained sugar, guarana extract, and caffeine.
In October, the family of Sarah Katz, a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student with a heart condition, filed a lawsuit claiming the woman died after consuming Panera’s Charged Lemonade.
Katz's friend, Victoria Rose Conroy, told NBC News that she probably had no idea the lemonade contained nearly an entire day's worth of caffeine when she ordered the drink. She said Katz was "vigilant" about what she consumed because of her heart condition.
“I guarantee if Sarah had known how much caffeine this was, she never would have touched it with a 10-foot pole,” Ms Conroy told the broadcaster.
A second lawsuit was filed in December by the family of Dennis Brown of Florida. He had a chromosomal deficiency disorder and a developmental delay. He also died after drinking a Charged Lemonade, the lawsuit claimed.
Lauren Skerrit, a 28-year-old woman in Rhode Island, has also sued the company over the drink, saying it left her with "permanent cardiac injuries."
While the company has expressed sympathy for the deaths associated with the lawsuits, the company maintains that their "unfortunate passing was not caused by one of the company's products."
It said it stood by the safety of the drinks. It has not commented on the third lawsuit from Ms Skerrit.
While Panera phases out its drink, Starbucks is just the latest restaurant to introduce a high-energy beverage.
In February, Dunkin' began offering its SPARKD' Energy beverages, with similar ingredients to Starbucks' Iced Energy offering. That beverage has 192mg of caffeine.
Smoothie King also offers "lemonade refreshers" which include up to 125mg of "natural caffeine" from green coffee beans.
While energy drinks have been around for decades, recent entries have ramped up the caffeine content far beyond their predecessors.
Red Bull, one of the most popular of the old-guard brands, has 114mg of caffeine in a 12oz can. Newer brands, like Celsius, have 200mg or more. Bang energy, which can be found at most gas stations and convenience stores, has 300mg of caffeine.
For comparison, a 12oz can of Coke has 34mg of caffeine, while a typical 8oz cup of coffee generally has between 80-100mg of caffeine.
While the US Food and Drug Administration has made recommendations for safe caffeine consumption in adults, the American Academy of Pediatrics has noted that there are no benefits of caffeine for children — besides the jolt of energy it brings — and has advised that children and adolescents avoid the drinks to protect their health.
