Business & Tech

Panera Bread to Ban Food Additives

Panera has almost a dozen locations in New Hampshire.

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Dan Tuohy, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge

Panera Bread plans to remove artificial additives from its bakery-cafe food menu by the end of 2016 as part of a health-conscious push among younger consumers.

Panera has 10 locations in New Hampshire, according to its store locator, including Bedford, Concord, Nashua and Portsmouth.

The new Panera food policy focuses on three areas:

  • Clean Ingredients: We are advocates for clean food. We’re committed to sourcing and serving high-quality ingredients without artificial additives including added MSG, artificial trans fats, and ingredients we don’t believe need to be in your food.
  • Transparent Menu: Our menu is diverse. We’re committed to transparency to empower guests to choose how they want to eat.
  • Positive Impact: We are committed to making a positive impact on our food system. We believe guests deserve to know not only what is in their food, but where it comes from and how companies are impacting the food system. 
"Panera was founded on the belief that quick food could be quality food," Ron Shaich, founder, Chairman and CEO, says in a press release June 3. "We started by baking bread from fresh dough each day in our cafes. That commitment led to others – like our early decision to remove artificial trans-fats, post calories on menu boards and invest in serving chicken raised without antibiotics. As we continue to make conscious choices about the food we source and serve, we realized it’s also important to share what we’ve accomplished and where we’re going."

Panera Bread began in 1981 as Au Bon Pain Co. and, in the 1990s, changed to the Panera Bread business name. As of April 30, 2014, there are 1,800 bakery-cafes in 45 states and in Ontario, Canada, according to the company's website. 

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