Panera Bread

Panera Bread

Basic information
Founded	1987
Legal Structure	Subsidiary
Industry	Food
Also known as	Pumpernickel Associates, LLC
Official website	https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html

Founded in 1987, Pumpernickel Associates, LLC (also referred as Panera Bread) is an American chain of fast casual restaurants that's a subsidiary to JAB Holding Company.

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Panera Bread category.

Main article: Panera's failure to disclose a known security breach

Back in 02 August 2017, security researcher Dylan Houlihan first notified Panera of the breach that allowed hackers to access customers personal information via its website, however the company wouldn't take any action until 8 month later on 02 April 2018.^[1] This would eventually result in a lawsuit 3 days later, however it was dismissed by the plaintiffs on June 2018.^[2]

The company was involved a class action lawsuits On 20 April 2016 due to allegedly failing to provide accessibility to visually impaired customers on its product and services. Filed by Andres Gomez and Juan Gil, the lawsuits claims the company failed to implement a "blind interface systems which employs an audio interface system, a tactile keyboard, and/or interactive screen reader technology or other auxiliary aids" on its Ipad Touchscreen KIOS systems. Additionally, it also claims the companys Fast Lane pickup session failed to include signs, audio systems, or braille on the shelves for visually impaired customers.^[3] The lawsuit reached a settlement in 2022. ^[4][5][3]

On 11 March 2021, plaintiff Mahasin Ahmad filed a lawsuit alleging the company added hidden fees to delivery orders made via the app or website. The lawsuit claims during early 2020, Panera began advertising $4 delivery fee to consumers , however, instead of maintaining its promises, the company added a hidden delivery fee that increase the price by 5-10%.^[6]The lawsuit would reach a $4 million settlement on 30 January 2024. In the settlement, Panera Bread would compensate customers who ordered between 01 October 2020 and 31 August 2021 with up to two voucher for Soups & Mac menu. or a cash reward of $19.^[7]

In late January, a hacker group known as ShinyHunters gained access to Panera Bread or one of their third parties systems by exploiting Microsoft Entra SSO code, containing customers names, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses. ShinyHunters demanded the company pay ransom to not release customers information around February, however the company refused, eventually leading to 5.4 million customers information being leaked online via their website.^[8][9][10]

"We have your customer database. Pay $X in cryptocurrency within 48 hours, or we publish everything. If you pay, we delete the data and provide proof."

In a statement made by Panera Bread CEO Paul Carbone, he stated that the vulnerability was fixed and didn't include financial information nor other information of its other services.^[11]

“We had independent security experts. We quickly identified the cause and strengthened controls for that third-party application.” And, importantly, the data involved did not include any payment information, employee systems, MyPanera accounts, or Unlimited Sip Club.”

Starting 29 January through February, the company would receive several lawsuits that alleges the company failure to secure consumer information by not encrypting users data. As of April 2026, the lawsuit is still pending litigation.^[12][13][10]

In 2022, Panera Bread would introduce Charged lemonade. It was a product containing high levels of caffeine that comes in various flavors such as Mango Yuzu Citrus, strawberry lemon mint, and blood orange.^[14] The product would be silently discontinued after several lawsuits and injuries reports from customers on 07 May 2024.^[15]

On 10 September, a 21 year old university of Pennsylvania student Sarah Katz suffering Long QT Type 1 Syndrome would experience a cardiac arrest after ordering a charged lemonade using Panera Sip Club membership. She would later be sent to the hospital, where it was announced that she has passed away. The company would issue a statement soon after Sarah Katz passing.

"We were very saddened to learn this morning about the tragic passing of Sarah Katz, and our hearts go out to her family. At Panera, we strongly believe in transparency around our ingredients. We will work quickly to thoroughly investigate this matter"^[16]

This would lead to family members filing a lawsuits on 23 October 2023 against Panera, alleging the company falsely advertised the safety of their charged lemonade by failure to disclose the product high level of caffeine and puts signs and labels disclosing the contents to consumers.^[17] It claims the company failed to market the drink as a energy drink due to the product containing high levels of caffeine ranging from 260 milligrams to 390 milligrams of caffeine.^[18][19][20] Soon after the case was filed, Panera changed their labels on Charged Lemonade to display high caffeine contents. The case would reach a settlement on October 2024^[21], however settlement agreements wasn't disclosed.^{[22][23][24][25]}

In 04 December, a lawsuit would be filed against Panera after a 46 year old man Dennis Brown passed away after repeated consumption of Charged Lemonade though 27 September - 09 October.^[26] It claims Panera was "deceptive in design" due to failure to market the drink as a energy drink and failure to warn customers of its high level of caffeine contents.^[27][28][17] Pandera released the following statement 4 days later.

“Panera expresses our deep sympathy for Mr. Brown’s family. Based on our investigation we believe his unfortunate passing was not caused by one of the company’s products, We view this lawsuit, which was filed by the same law firm as a previous claim, to be equally without merit. Panera stands firmly by the safety of our products.”^[29][30]

On July 2025, the case was settled without prejustice, with any details about the agreement remaining unknown.^[31]

On 16 January, Panera would face another lawsuit, alleging the product Charged lemonade caused plaintiff Lauren Skerritt to “permanent cardiac injuries" after drinking two and a half charged lemonade drinks on 09 April, causing her to obtain atrial fibrillation.^[32] The lawsuit alleges the company failure to inform consumers by labeling the drinks and not marketing the product as a energy drink due to high caffeine contents.^[17][33][34] The plaintiff lawyer Elizabeth Crawford commented on the situation.

“You put an innocuous product like lemonade in an innocuous bakery-cafe like Panera, what reasonable consumer is going to be thinking that they’re drinking, essentially, three Red Bulls? Everything in her life has been altered because of this situation.”^[35]

On July 2025, the case was settled with prejudice.^[31]

On 20 May, Panera was hit with a lawsuit after plaintiff Luke Adams ordered the lemonade and a chicken sandwich on 09 March. Later during the day, the lawsuit alleges plaintiff went to the movie with his friends, when he suddenly suffered a seizure, requiring the plaintiff be hospitalized and get a implantable cardioverter defibrillator.^[36][33] The lawsuit claims the company failed to warn consumers of associated health risks with the product and failure to market the product as a energy drink.^[37] The case reached a settlement on July 2025 with prejudice, however specific details regarding the agreement were not disclosed.^[31]

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