News

Panera cutting artificial flavors

Artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and sweeteners will soon be 86’d from Panera Bread’s menu.

May 5, 2015

Artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and sweeteners will soon be 86’d from Panera Bread’s menu. The chain announced this week that it will remove them by the end of the year. Plans have been underway since 2012, which have already meant the end for many ingredients, including sucralose, an artificial sweetener, and titanium dioxide, often used to whiten mozzarella cheese.

Consumers “know they should be eating better, but they’re not always sure how to do that,” said Ron Shaich, Panera’s chief executive officer, in the Wall Street Journal. “What we’re trying to do is give people a simple, easy, Good Housekeeping seal-of-approval kind of approach to it.”

Other food companies, including Nestle and Chipotle, have announced similar decisions.