It sometimes really pays to read the nutrition label.
First because being aware of what we're putting into our bodies is a healthy choice and second because you might be drinking something with half your entire day's recommended caffeine in one drink.
This is what TikTok user Sarah—@sarahebaus—found out after she had been drinking several of Panera's new Charged Lemonades per day while working out of the franchise's restaurants. It was only while drinking another of the beverages with her husband, who is a Type 1 Diabetic and needs to know the sugar content of everything he ingests, that she truly realized the scope of both sugar and caffeine in the drink.
She then posted a video about this, while holding and sipping one of the charged lemonades, talking a million words a minute.
@sarahebaus @Panera Bread this drink should come with a warning because it’s delicious and will lead to my cardiac arrest #panerabread #mangoyuzucitrus #remotework
The recommended daily amount of caffeine is 400mg which two of the drink at a medium size exceeds easily. Sarah we on to say she's not going to stop drinking the charged lemonades, but that she'll water them down in the future.
Her video went viral and was posted by another user over on Twitter3 where people had some priceless reactions to her informative and passionate, if speedy, monologue about the drinks.
First were those who found her way of talking about the issue hilarious.
\u201c@finegodmother Facial expressions got me crying \ud83d\ude02\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
\u201c@finegodmother I can def tell she's suped up on sugar and/or caffeine cause of how she's talking.\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
\u201c@finegodmother They were not lyin about it being charged\u2026.she is bouncing off the proverbial walls \ud83d\ude35\u200d\ud83d\udcab\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
\u201c@finegodmother I can\u2019t stop laughing at this\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
Many others came in to comment with their personal experiences with the drinks.
\u201c@finegodmother No fr half way through the day that Mango Yuzu Citrus lemonade be having me like \u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
\u201c@finegodmother She\u2019s not lying. I had a Large Strawberry charged lemonade. I was awake for a full 24hrs. I got so much stuff done.\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
\u201c@finegodmother I shouldn\u2019t be laughing, but I am bc this could so be me. I don\u2019t drink coffee but I took a caffeine pill one time and I too felt like the hulk.\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
\u201c@finegodmother The first time I had one of these, I had heart palpitations \ud83d\ude02 looked at that caffeine content and haven\u2019t touched one since\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
Some people tried to bring some logic and calmness to the situation.
\u201c@finegodmother Mango Yuzu CHARGED Lemonade. What did you think it was charged with? A felony? \ud83d\ude02\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
\u201c@finegodmother It's a shame that people don't read the nutrition labels. It's clearly advertised as a highly-caloric & caffeinated drink...plus, brewed coffee has WAY more caffeine than espresso, so unless she's getting a tall americano every time, I'm sure she's had >260 mg of caffeine before.\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
However, by far the largest group of comments were those asking where they, too, could score some of the drink or making plans to do so.
\u201c@finegodmother sounds like this drink can get me through my app dev program, NOBODY REPORT THEM\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
\u201c@finegodmother Lemme get me one before they remove it from the menu\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
Basically, as someone pointed out, this should be sponsored content.
\u201c@finegodmother This is the best ad they could ask for\u2026 I will take a large.\u201d— finegodmother (@finegodmother) 1670986226
Some Panera locations have moved the drink to behind the counter, but the drink remains available, sweet and full of caffeine.
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@BillAckman/Twitter