Panera Bread is banning dozens of artificial ingredients from its menu


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
By the end of 2016, Panera Bread plans to remove at least 150 artificial preservatives, flavors, colors, and sweeteners from its soups, sandwiches, salad dressings, and several bakery items.
The chain will discontinue using ingredients like fat substitutes and propylene glycol, a preservative used in deodorant and e-cigarettes, The Wall Street Journal reports. While a lot of food products will be affected, some offerings, like soda, will still have artificial ingredients. The company's chief executive officer, Ron Shaich, said Panera is trying to "give people a simple, easy Good Housekeeping seal-of-approval kind of approach to it."
Panera Bread has been planning to drop the ingredients since 2012, and has already stopped using the artificial sweetener sucralose and titanium dioxide, which is used to make mozzarella cheese whiter.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
10 things you need to know today: October 3, 2023
Daily Briefing Trump calls fraud case a 'sham' as trial starts, Matt Gaetz files resolution seeking to oust McCarthy, and more
By Harold Maass Published
-
The Tory tribes vying for influence at this year's party conference
The Explainer From free-market ultras to culture warriors, the party's electoral coalition is starting to fracture
By The Week Staff Published
-
5 destinations to visit this fall
The Week Recommends Have a frightfully good time in Sleepy Hollow or enjoy the foliage in Asheville
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Exodus begins from Burning Man after desert mud trapped tens of thousands
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
'Margaritaville' singer Jimmy Buffett dies at 76
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
American Airlines suing website that offers tickets via price loopholes
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Federal agencies investigating near miss between Southwest jet and private plane
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud dies at 25
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Pee-wee Herman actor Paul Reubens dies at 70
Speed Read
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
Trader Joe's recalls 4 products in a week amid reports of rocks and insects inside food
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Emmys to be postponed for first time since after 9/11 due to strikes
Speed Read
By Brendan Morrow Published