# Family sues Panera Bread over possible death from energy drink-do they have a case? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 28, 2023, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226 "2023-10-28T12:00:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2024, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/362 "2024-05-08T12:01:23Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > If I have dietary restrictions due to physical or religious reasons, I am not going to trust some kid in a paper hat to give me the information I want. I’m going to research it myself. I agree. Many (many) moons ago I worked at Burger King. I can say we were given absolutely zero training on what was in the food. I would have no more idea about that than the customer asking. And this was way before the internet could give you that info. Perhaps the manager would know (or at least have some documentation they could grab and read) but the rest of the staff were clueless about it. Heck, I also worked as a bus boy and later a waiter in various restaurants. Never did I know the content of the dishes being served beyond what was obvious (chicken, beef, potato, etc.). If someone has an allergy or other reason for avoiding something do not rely on the minimum wage workers at a restaurant to give it to you. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2024, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/363 "2024-05-08T13:13:27Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I see no mention of “tallow”, but it seems to me that “natural beef flavor” might disqualify it anyway. If I have dietary restrictions due to physical or religious reasons, I am not going to trust some kid in a paper hat to give me the information I want. I’m going to research it myself. McDonald’s stopped using tallow in 1990 and started using beef flavoring later when customers complained the fries weren’t as good as they used to be. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/364 "2024-05-08T19:56:31Z")
The problem is even if you looked at McD’s ingredient list back when the lawsuit was filed, there was no mention of beef flavoring, just “natural flavoring” and that’s where it was hidden. That said McDonalds never did claim the fries were vegan or vegetarian, though they actually are vegan in certain markets (India, for instance, and I think Canada might have vegan fries.) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/365 "2024-05-10T09:38:28Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Taco Bell settled a suit with a Hindu man who sued because he was served a beef burrito Ironic, since TB has also [been sued](https://www.chrie.org/assets/docs/JHTC-case-notes/JHTC-vol-1/JHTC_1-1_Khan_Case.pdf) for not having enough beef in it’s ‘beefy’ tacos. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/366 "2024-05-10T10:55:43Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > > [@Odesio](#): > > > > Taco Bell settled a suit with a Hindu man who sued because he was served a beef burrito > > Ironic, since TB has also [been sued](https://www.chrie.org/assets/docs/JHTC-case-notes/JHTC-vol-1/JHTC_1-1_Khan_Case.pdf) for not having enough beef in it’s ‘beefy’ tacos. - One man’s meat is another man’s poison. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/367 "2024-05-21T13:09:08Z")
Panara has been charged in another lawsuit where their Charged Lemonade allegedly led to someone’s death. > **[Panera's Charged Lemonade cited in lawsuit over teen's cardiac arrest](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/panera-charged-lemonade-lawsuit/)** > > Panera faces another lawsuit over a highly caffeinated beverage that the restaurant chain said it would phase out. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/368 "2024-10-07T13:14:21Z")
Panera just paid of the family of the university student who drank the caffeinated lemonade while with a heart condition. I suppose her family had a case or maybe Panera just didn’t need the bad press. > **[Panera settles with first plaintiff in Charged Lemonade wrongful death suits](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/panera-settles-first-plaintiff-charged-lemonade-wrongful-death-suits-rcna174244)** > > The development happened days before a trial was scheduled to begin in the death of a 21-year-old Ivy League student who drank the highly caffeinated beverage. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/369 "2026-04-10T04:51:35Z")
There was a news story on NBC tonight wherein a cheerleader died from drinking Alani energy drinks. They said she’d sometimes drink two cans with 200 mg of caffeine each day. I think some people can handle 400 mg/day but that’s probably cups of cofffee spread over 20 hours of being awake. I guess the concentrated cans are not equal to a pot of coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/370 "2026-04-10T07:04:29Z")
> [@Eric1](#): > > There was a news story on NBC tonight wherein a cheerleader died from drinking Alani energy drinks. They said she’d sometimes drink two cans with 200 mg of caffeine each day. > > I think some people can handle 400 mg/day but that’s probably cups of cofffee spread over 20 hours of being awake. Hell, the grocery store I work at used to sell energy drinks that had 377mg in one can. They were helpful to me when I was trying to adjust to working the graveyard shift. These days if I have more than one can of Pepsi Zero after breakfast I’ll wind up losing sleep that night. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/371 "2026-04-10T13:58:37Z")
> [@Eric1](#): > > I think some people can handle 400 mg/day but that’s probably cups of cofffee spread over 20 hours of being awake. I guess the concentrated cans are not equal to a pot of coffee. I can take 400mg in one dose, it wakes me up pretty good but that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/372 "2026-04-16T03:30:14Z")
Yes I reconsidered the 17 year old girl’s ingestion of 400 mg of caffeine/day. Since it was not a perhaps completely overwhelming amount, maybe there was something wrong with her circulation of which she and her family proved unaware. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/373 "2026-04-16T11:04:21Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That said McDonalds never did claim the fries were vegan or vegetarian, The store I worked in during high school (1980’s) did. We all thought they were vegetarian. I was a vegetarian and I ate them every shift. I was royally ticked off when I found out. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/374 "2026-04-16T11:12:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > the grocery store I work at used to sell energy drinks that had 377mg in one can The trouble with this is the caffeine/water ratio. Well, it’s also the sheer volume of caffeine. But my point is that in order to drink that much caffeine in coffee you’d also be getting \> 24 oz of water. And that helps your body process and eliminate the caffeine. And that takes us back to this lemonade which also has more than what most people would expect for the volume of liquid. Anytime you step outside of those socially expected ratios, you risk people getting hurt by it. And going back to the signage, 21% of people in the USA can’t read at all. 54% are functionally illiterate and probably couldn’t sound out the word caffeine or understand what that sign should mean to them. Most warning signs are useless to the people who would need them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/375 "2026-04-16T15:55:25Z")
Back when they were frying them in tallow? Then again, I can see that, as vegetarianism wasn’t as popularly understood back then. I remember my mom serving my vegetarian friend some homemade vegetable soup forgetting that the chicken broth base made it definitely not vegetarian. A Polish mom’s idea of vegetarian meant “not containing visible pieces of meat.” Or “made with fish.” Which is somewhat odd, now that I think of it, as for Christmas Eve dinner she made sure things were cooked on a vegetable broth. (Though fish was featured prominently.) ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/376 "2026-04-16T18:53:33Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > vegetarianism wasn’t as popularly understood back then. The ingredient list just said “natural flavoring” as mentioned in a post above. It didn’t say beef tallow. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226/377 "2026-04-16T19:05:40Z")
But that’s something different. You were talking about the 80s. They were using at least some straight beef tallow in their frying oil until 1990. The “natural flavoring” refers to when they changed their frying fat from beef tallow to a plant-based oil. But they also added “natural flavoring” which contains milk proteins that are not vegan/vegetarian (along with some wheat derivatives). It doesn’t have beef fat, but it does have animal-derived products in it. That said, back in the 80s, you wouldn’t have known exactly what they’re frying it in. Ingredients weren’t disclosed like they are now, and you wouldn’t necessarily have known it unless you had some knowledge of fast-food deep-frying practices. By the time they changed their practices (1990), it was being reported on in mainstream media, but the fact that the switch to vegetable oils included an ingredient that had some animal-derived products in it was not. (Like [here’s](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/08/09/fried-in-fat/71c3b02c-cad8-4cf5-971c-041d24bdab55/) a Washington Post article from 1985 that starts: " The beef in the fries is _beef tallow_, the type of saturated fat that McDonald’s and six other fast-food restaurants use to fry their french fries.") The link is wonky, but that’s the first line from the Google preview of the article. So it was somewhat known at the time that fast food places fried fries in animal fat. But it wasn’t advertised. You kind of had to know it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-sues-panera-bread-over-possible-death-from-energy-drink-do-they-have-a-case/992226.md?page=18)