BREAKING UPDATE May 4, 2015: Panera Bread has agreed to remove 150 additives from their food. Starting this week, Panera Bread will only sell salad dressing made without artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors and preservatives. This is the direct result of the ongoing pressure you and the Food Babe Army have put on companies to serve safer and more healthful ingredients. Thank you!
USA Today reported these additional details:
Some examples of artificial additive removal:
• Greek salad dressing — removed hydrogenated soy protein, maltodextrin, propylene glycol alginate, and the generic spice blend.
• Mozzarella on tomato mozzarella flatbread — removed titanium dioxide.
• Chicken noodle soup — removed hydrolyzed soy and corn protein, autolyzed yeast extract, and modified corn starch
• Poppyseed dressing —- removed cellulose gel and artificial flavors.
Please note: The action by Panera does not include the beverages it sells, though executives say they are working on that, too, particularly in bottled beverages.
The New York Times lists several other companies that are changing their ingredients (Hershey’s, Nestle, Chipotle, Nabisco, McDonalds and Tyson’s). This is all a result of our collective activism! Again, thank you for working for a better food system with me – we are winning!
Update June 3, 2014: Panera Bread announces they will remove all artificial colors, sweeteners, preservatives and flavors by 2016. Thank you #FoodBabeArmy for sharing this post continuously since April 2012 when it was first released. We are changing the world one company at a time by spreading the truth!
CNBC interviewed me about Panera committing to remove all artificial ingredients, here’s what I said: “Panera’s announcement is another example that consumer awareness and action is changing the food industry. … I appreciate Panera’s commitment to remove artificial ingredients and hope other major restaurant chains take notice to do the same.” (McDonalds, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Domino’s, etc. – listen up!!!) I investigated Panera Bread back in April 2012 because so many people (including my own parents) were under the impression it was healthy. Panera was even voted one of the healthiest fast food chains despite their overuse of artificial ingredients! I wanted people to know the truth and when people know the truth, these companies have no where to hide – they have to change to meet demand!
Original Investigation Published April 16, 2012:
My lovely mother sent me home with a bag full of home cooked food last week on Easter. It included her famous Indian flat bread stuffed with radishes, lentil soup and stir fried cauliflower. While everything was super delicious as usual, something caught me a little off guard… the Panera Bread bag she reused for me to carry home all those goodies.
Panera Bread is popping up all over the place…I see one outside my office window at work. I drove past three on my way to the park last Sunday…
And then while my friend Amy was traveling through a small town in South Carolina that I frequently visit, which is also a food desert (a place that shall remain nameless or my better half would kill me) … She texted with an urgent “Where do I stop to eat?” I didn’t have a good answer for her and I certainly didn’t suggest Panera Bread.
So given these signs, I had to feed my inner curiosity of why I just cringe at the thought of eating there. What I found was some startling ingredients this oh so fresh and so clean looking bakery style deli uses in their famous salads, sandwiches, soups and breads. With industrialized food sourcing over 90% of what Americans eat – It’s easy to get fooled, even with the simplest and freshest sounding menu items.
Luckily, Panera (like all companies should) provides you with all the information you need at your finger tips via their website where they list all the nutrition facts including the ingredients for all of their dishes. Here’s just a sampling of some of the ingredients that might make you think twice before stopping off for a bite…
First up – The Fuji Apple Salad. Looks pretty healthy doesn’t?
But nope… This salad is heavily processed. Those apple chips on top are made with canola oil and corn syrup which is highly likely to be genetically modified. The greek dressing has an ingredient most people use in their car engines as anti freeze aka propylene glycol… (If you want to know more about this substance – I go into detail about it in a Supermarket Birthday Cake Exposé.) Oh and look at all those tasty “natural” flavors (probably from Givaudan, a chemical food manufacturer).
And then if you are brave enough to order something as simple as a ham & swiss on rye… you’ll get a dosage of nitrates. Nitrates are dangerous for your health and are toxic to the brain. They are linked to Alzheimer’s and many forms of cancer. No one should be eating them. There’s really no reason to eat chemically preserved cured and smoked meat. Get it fresh, get it organic, and or don’t eat it at all. It’s that simple.
What about the whole grain bread… It’s got to be whole grain, right? They are Panera BREAD for goodness sakes.
Nope… Don’t get excited, it’s not 100% whole grain, just half. Like the rye bread that is used for the ham and swiss, the first ingredient after water, is enriched flour. There is nothing whole grain about enriched flour – this bread should actually be called half white bread if they were really going to name this correctly and were telling us the whole picture.
The most upsetting menu items were in the soup department… check out the hidden MSG in this Broccoli and Cheese Soup & Low Fat Black Bean Soup under disguise names “hydrolyzed corn and soy protein, autolyzed yeast extract and yeast extract” This is food industry trickery at it’s best! A little off topic, but relevant, the food company that makes Pop Chips is using this same trick too….I avoid this additive at all costs because MSG is an ingredient that literally excites your brain cells to death.
Now comes the worst part of this whole story. Health Magazine rated Panera Bread as the #1 Healthiest Fast Food Restaurant in America.
REALLLLLLY?! Is this the best fast food we can get? Does fast have to automatically assume processed? Salad dressing with propylene glycol? Meats with nitrates? Enriched bleached flour bread? Soup filled with MSG?! A whole menu full of GMOs?
Health Magazine looked at the use of healthy fats, sodium content and the use of organic produce to determine their top 10 restaurants. Panera Bread got the #1 spot because they offer organic yogurt, organic milk, and organic cheese on their award winning kids menu, which I have to admit is a step above places like McDonalds but they are still using the same cheap ingredients that other fast food restaurants use to make money and to get you hooked.
If you don’t go into Panera knowing all the facts, you can get duped pretty easily. Take for instance that acclaimed kid’s menu….if you end up ordering the kid’s ham sandwich instead of the grilled cheese for your little one, you end up feeding them nitrates, but it’s still considered the “healthiest” because your child has the option to wash it all down with organic milk.
Until fast food companies make some serious and bold decisions to be consistent in their messages about the quality of their food, what additives are in and not in their foods and use a measurable trusty worth standard – I won’t be buying it or supporting them. It’s far too confusing to keep up with all these ingredients for the typical consumer, so the food industry continues to win.
Luckily for us, in this case, we don’t have to work that hard to find the ingredient list. Let’s applaud Panera Bread for providing us the information to make good decisions about what we eat and what we feed our families.
Unfortunately for them, I’ll be looking elsewhere to spend my dollars. Where are you going to spend yours? And how do you get your food fast?
If you know someone who could benefit from hearing this information about Panera – please share this article with them.
In the Best of Health,
Food Babe
Greetings! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you knew
where I could get a captcha plugin for my comment form?
I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having difficulty finding one?
Thanks a lot!
You my friend are spamming. Spamming is worse then GMO.
LOL!!! Guess he’s never heard of Google.
So once the realization that you’ve been eating chemicals your whole life sets in..what do you recommends for those dire urgencies when you just don’t have many healthy options when traveling?
It takes a little planning, but if you are out traveling for a few days, it really it not difficult to plan and either bring or buy real food. Make your granola bars and store in the freezer, make your own trail mix, bring along ingredients to make sandwiches. One that we are trying to employ is freezing pre-made smoothies, then while they are in the cooler, they melt and we have smoothies to drink in the car.
Great tips Melissa! Here are some more of Food Babe’s travel tips. https://foodbabe.com/2012/05/29/travel-food-to-pack-before-you-go/
We’re going to visit my brother-in-law in NC next week. We’re not quite sure what to do about food while on the road – 10 to 12 hours, & stuff won’t keep in the cooler that long – or while we’re at his house. His wife & daughter have a lot of food allergies, primarily to nuts. I like whole grain & really healthy stuff, but we don’t want to be a burden on them while we’re there for 2 1/2 days…. I would ask for Ezekiel bread & fresh fruit, so at least I had healthy breakfast food, but would that be imposing too much? (They always have a closet full of UNHEALTHY cereal, & then usually some bananas on the counter….)
Oh, something else I’m curious about is canned/bagged salmon & tuna. Are those safe to eat, or do they have hidden “junk” in them?
My husband is in the military, we are frequently in the position of having to make grueling long car trips to see our families. (in Chicago) The one thing we have found we can’t live without for these trips is a Thermoelectric cooler. This has been instrumental in planning healthy meals/snacks for my family while on the road. Most recently our move from Alabama to Alaska! They are cheap and provide you with peace of mind. Link below!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/21156022?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=3&adid=22222222227015578648&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=18159147190&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=40021735150&veh=sem
frustrating! I was pumped to hear about the hidden menu, then visited Panera last weekend and asked about it. People were unsure and when I asked to see the ingredients they went to dig up a binder and all I could see was a massive list of bad words. Granted, I still ate it but I was incredibly bummed I thought I was in for something good fast food for once! Boooo Panera, booooo.
Go to paneranutrition.com you can see all the ingredients there.
Food Babe, do you have any suggestions on where we CAN eat healthy when we need a break from cooking? Thank you for this article! We live in San Diego.
Chipotle is the ONLY chain restaurant that has real food.
Popcorn is NOT GMO (it will not cross with sweet or field corn. Find some in a bag with no soy, corn, canola oil. Most mainstream grocery stores have organic fruits and veggies but no good meats. Ezekiel bread is not a healthy food as is no other white or whole wheat product. Stop eating wheat and your blood sugar will stabilize; you will not need so much food. Big cities usually have organic restaurants easily found on smartphone.
Jason’s Deli is a good option too from what I understand.
I thought foodbabe said Chiptole wasn’t good. I just read an article outlining all of the bad ingredients. Plus, I went to their website, and they have them all there. I love Chiptole, but it isn’t good either. 😕
Ezekiel has sprouted grain breads and other produces with no flour. I’m not 100% but I think it’s pretty good. You can buy some with no wheat if your looking for the slow carb. Please educate me if I’m wrong here!
Seeking the Truth
Jennifer, Chiptole is better than most fast food restaurants but if you want to avoid ALL GMOs – and only eat organic you’re out of luck. Their chips, tortillas, dressing and soy oils (used in the rice and beef/chicken) is GMO. They have promised to make a change to another oil- but that hasn’t been implemented yet. If you really want to avoid them – your best bet is a salad with cheese, beans and salsa. But again, if you don’t like eating one of the “dirty dozen” veggies, which salad is, you’re out of luck, because it’s not organic.
Ezekiel bread is sprouted grain- not ‘wheat bread’.
Is there anything healthy to eat there? Are there any fast food places that you recommend? Thanks in advance!
Propylene glycol alginate != propylene glycol. Feel free to educate yourself at the link above.
I would love to get my hands on the things that you all use to squeeze all the soup out of the bag. I work for Dream Dinners And would love to know where to get they or If I could get a couple from you. They are to squeeze the bag empty. I am willing to buy this from you or where ever I can get them. Thank very much for your patients. Sandy Ross
What!! In the greek dressing, I saw “calcium disodium EDTA”. I saw the “disodium EDTA” part in my SHAMPOO!
This is what that is: http: //www.ehow.com/facts_5007478_what-disodium-edta.html
Thanks Food Babe, for everything you do! You are very awesome!
Food babe, can you please tell us about the Hidden Menu at Panera Bread? Have you looked into the ingredients on it? I’ve had most of the items on it and they are all delicious/seem minimally processed relatively speaking. Thanks! Love your posts.
As far as I can tell, they don’t post the ingredients for Hidden Menu on-line. That tells me a lot…
This is their hidden menu, and it lists the ingredients:
http://mypanera.panerabread.com/articlestips/article/access-into-paneras-hidden-menu/
They’re all whole foods, so there’s nothing hidden. Even the dressings are a fresh lemon and extra virgin olive oil. When I ate there, I learned that it’s California Olive Ranch, one of the few tested as real EVOO by UC Davis. I wouldn’t buy anything off the regular menu, but I’m grateful for the hidden menu when I travel.
Hi Eileen – that is not an ingredient list, it is a description of the menu item (unless I am missing something) For example, basil pesto and cilantro jalapeno hummus are listed but it does not tell exactly what is in them. I think they are trying to make it seem like it is the ingredient list. I am not saying the items are bad but they need to disclose full list.
Exactly what I was thinking as I read. I would LOVE to know what’s in the hummus…it’s one of my favorite foods!
As far as I can tell they no longer post a complete ingredient list about any of their menu items. This could mean one of two things. They are trying to hide that they are not as healthy as they claim OR…even though they used to post a list of ingredients, they might not do so now because it would allow for other restaurants to mimic them. I’m not sure how it works when it comes to patents on ingredients and food. However, I know that in other cases. companies are given a patent of about 10 years or so. This allows them to profit from their products with out the competition stealing from them. Maybe, Panera Bread’s Patent ran out?
The ingredients are absolutely listed. Go to http://www.paneranutrition.com….
Hidden Menu (the last item) is the menu category. Then choose what you’re interested in finding out about. Then click on add to meal. In the resulting page it lists the nutrition information and there is a link next to the name of the food that says ingredients….voila. If you go from the main Panera page, it is literally just a list of menu items. That page has never been where nutrition info comes from. All of the links/pins in the article above are also from the nutrition calculator page, not from the main Panera page.
Thank you so much for your blog. I am shocked the USA allows GMO foods and the government claims that this country takes care of their citizens. Obviously it kills them slowly and made huge profit of their medical bills. Very disappointed. I am Polish and everytime I go to visit my country I enjoy food there. It tastes like food, it smells like food and doesn’t make me sick.
Thank you again for your work and research. You are fantastic!
Thanks for writing – it is very disappointing.
The real reason GMO’s will never be banned in America,look at all the politicians who have ties to it.
http://ivn.us/2012/07/11/monsantos-political-ties-the-reason-we-dont-label-gmos/
Hey, Krista … tell Vani I want to marry her. 😉
I want her to use her organic food knowledge to take care of me — and vice versa. I haven’t eaten in a restaurant in over four years, in order to avoid GMO’s, hormones, preservatives and artificial ingredients.
I think she could help me get out more and would be very good for me!
I could pop the question after we go on a few dates, lol! She’s awesome!
Great post. I am experiencing some of these issues as well.
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I am sure this article has touched all the internet visitors, its really really good piece of writing on building up
new website.
Just found your site… love it! Thank you so much for doing the detective work that most of us have no idea of where to start.
If you’re ever in Oregon, there is a small franchise called “Cafe Yumm” that I’ve found in Eugene and Bend. Lots of organic and vegan dishes (and meat options as well)… and it’s FAST! Their sauce is delicious… and it comes in 3 flavors! They are starting to sell their sauce at small co-ops and markets too.
I’m hoping they are as good as they appear, because it makes eating much easier when out of town. I hope I haven’t assumed too much about the healthiness of their ingredients…
After reading your article, you can be sure I’ll be digging deeper!
ok so i have read a bunch of ur reviews and i noticed u get very angry at places claiming to be healthy when they arent and i like that. i am on a special detox diet and there is an immense amount of things im not allowed to eat and chains are certainly generally out of the question as ive done my research too and found that every single chain has 20+ ingredients for literally everything on the menu its absurd lol. what i typically do though is even-though it takes hours for me to do so i will run through the menu to find out whats the healthiest thing on the menu i could possibly have even if not healthy its “healthier, like for instance the yogurt parfait at mc donalds, there is actually almost nothing bad in it, or the chili at wendys which aside from the autolyzed yeast has 0 bad things in it. ive had to do this because sometimes you simply dont have access to anything else when your on the go and you need food. what im asking you is could you right an article about the safest stuff to have from these chains for people who simply dont have time to make stuff themselves or there are no privately owned eatery’s in the area?
Whoa! I’m shocked that there’s SOY protein in the Broccoli cheese soup! And I’m supposed to be AVOIDING SOY! :'( What IS “safe” to eat when we are traveling or are running short on time & need to eat out?
And propylene glycol in SALAD DRESSING? UGH! 🙁 DISGUSTING! (Not that I eat much salad dressing anyway any more because of the sugar & so many of them have SOYBEAN OIL in them….)
The big organic clamshell of salad greens at any large chain grocery can be eaten plain. We love the arugula/spinach. You can bring a tiny leakproof jar of olive oil or homemade dressing. Put your cheese of choice into your lunch bag. Take some raw nuts and air- popped corn you fix the night before ( it will stay crisp with no oil, etc) You can eat a proper dinner when you get home. Don’t eat the bad food and the food companies will get the picture. AND don’t eat any hybrid/ modern wheat.
Mad Greens in Denver is amazing and to the best of my knowledge–a fairly healthy choice for “fast food”
I’d be willing to bet that you could find something harmful and deadly in every single thing you eat, or drink.
When you have ‘good’ information why include inflammatory statements. PG – is not anti-freeze. It, along with water, is an ingredient in anti-freeze.
Once exaggeration is evident how exactly does one trust the validity of the rest of your writing?
All the best – always and in all ways
Kathy… Propylene Glycol
CAS ID #: 57-55-6
Affected Organ Systems: Dermal (Skin), Renal (Urinary System or Kidneys), Respiratory (From the Nose to the Lungs)
Cancer Effects: None
Chemical Classification: None
Summary: Propylene glycol is a synthetic liquid substance that absorbs water. Propylene glycol is also used to make polyester compounds, and as a base for deicing solutions. Propylene glycol is used by the chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries as an antifreeze when leakage might lead to contact with food. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified propylene glycol as an additive that is “generally recognized as safe” for use in food. It is used to absorb extra water and maintain moisture in certain medicines, cosmetics, or food products. It is a solvent for food colors and flavors, and in the paint and plastics industries. Propylene glycol is also used to create artificial smoke or fog used in fire-fighting training and in theatrical productions. Other names for propylene glycol are 1,2-dihydroxypropane, 1,2-propanediol, methyl glycol, and trimethyl glycol. Propylene glycol is clear, colorless, slightly syrupy liquid at room temperature. It may exist in air in the vapor form, although propylene glycol must be heated or briskly shaken to produce a vapor. Propylene glycol is practically odorless and tasteless….. Aka… Something I DO NOT want in my salad dressing… I don’t think water has a rap sheet like this…
I used to work for an airline and propylene glycol was the main ingredient in the fluid we used to de-ice the planes. It always tasted sweet when it blew in our faces, but that is a scary thing to be eating.
Two great GMO free restaurants in Los Angeles are:
-The Suncafe on Caheunga Blvd (near Universal Studios)
-Cafe Gratitude on Larchmont Blvd
There need to be more places to dine in Los Angeles that offer affordable
healthy food, but for now these are the two I frequent.
Any good places in OC?
Leslie, Follow Your Heart in the San Fernando Valley is also a gem! A great vegetarian restaurant that’s been around for over 40 years. I miss their Zorro Burritos!
At a Panera last week (one that you pick up your own food instead of having it brought to your table) I accidentally saw how they made the pesto/pasta type soup my wife ordered. All they did was pop a white plastic bag of soup mix into a microwave, cut it open, and pour it into a soup bowl. My delusions of them making fresh soup in a big pot were gone. No plastic should ever be put in a microwave. I was disgusted.
The more I read and learn, the more convinced I am that making my own food is the best and not wasting my money in junk food can save me and my family from having serious diseases later on in life.
Anybody knows where I can find a list or “no-no” ingredients (chemicals) that we must avoid?
Just eat whole foods: fruit, veggies, meat, milk, raw nuts (they are fruits); organic popcorn (it is non GMO and will not cross with field corn) or potatoes for starch. Look for non GMO first, then organic – these are two different things. Then you will not need a list of chemicals
Greetings! Thank you for all your very wonderful information! Wondering if you are familiar with the franchise “Freshii”? On the surface it appears to be healthy but of course appearances are so often deceiving!
In all fairness, it would be worth taking a look at the ingredients in the hidden menu. Although there are still some things of concern there, it is definitely BETTER!
PedFam,
I just tried to look at the link that someone posted for the hidden menu and I couldn’t access it. It would just direct the page back to Panera’s home page. And I was signed on mypanera, so if it is a rewards member vs not a rewards member, it couldn’t have been that. Can you post a better link?
I agree.. the HIDDEN MENU at Panera is a much better alternative. I am able to see all of the ingrediants on line (a real ingrediant list), though you do have to look for it. The ingredients in this menu are better. For example, there is no salad dressing with sugar/corn syrup, sodium or other evils, just EVOO and fresh lemon. The turkey is organic turkey – not sliced lunch meat. Yes, Panera has evils on their regular menu, but their hidden menu rocks! It is my alternative to when I am unable to make my own lunch or if I am out on the run and need to stop somewhere. It is the only menu I eat off of when there. Some of the workers do not know about it, but it is becoming more popular, and Panera will be featuring it on their regular menu soon. As long as they keep it what it is now, and don’t add other ingrediants. I am not sure about the hummus option, as it has jalepenos, and I’m allergic to any hot pepper so I’ve never looked at it. This is just my opinion… everyone has the right to their own. And I do appreciate FoodBabe and helping us to be aware of what we eat, what is out there, and giving us healthier options. Thanks for what you do!
Can you do an analysis of Baja Fresh? I would consider them fast food but they seem generally healthy aside from the likely GMO corn chips of course.
I don’t mean to be rude to anyone, but are people really so unable to read an ingredient list? Yes I understand it can be hard to keep up with all the hard to pronounce ingredients and things that were once deemed safe are constantly being proven otherwise, causing people to have to take a new look at common ingredients in processed food.
However, taking Baja Fresh for example, just looking at some common items that have been flagged as health risks for many years now will tell you that they do not serve generally healthy food. Take a look at the salt content in their food. One of the lowest sodium salads contains 1110 mg of sodium, and that doesn’t even seem to include the dressing. A veggie and cheese baja bowl contains 1,950 mg of sodium.
I have not seen an ingredient list for their food, but fresh food has zero need for so much sodium. Sodium is a preservative. It will also contribute to risks for heart disease and low potassium levels in high quantities. Potassium helps regulate heart rhythm among other things.
Well I can see where some people would be upset by how Panera Bread prepares their food, and my advice to those people would be not to eat there. If you have food allergies you should ALWAYS ask what’s in something before you order it. I mean that’s just common sense.
However I do have to take issue with the demand that everyone not eat there. A lot of people like their food, and find the prices reasonable. For others it’s a matter of convenience based on their location. It’s not reasonable to ask a person on a short lunch break to drive longer just to get something to eat. For them it’s not really a thing, and maybe they just don’t want to take the time to fix something. There are a lot of people who just prefer the convenience over paying more for extra groceries (though in truth the long term cost would be cheaper with the groceries).
Now me? I don’t eat at Panera Bread because I don’t like the food. I’ve been there a couple times and never really liked it. I have to be a little more choosey about my fast food choices because I can’t drink soft drinks due to a medication that I take (makes them taste bad). So I had to switch to sweet tea. If a place doesn’t have that I generally can’t eat there unless they have some kind of beverage I can drink (yeah was at a Big Boy the other night and strawberry lemonade was yuck. some may like it but not me) So my choices tend to be Burger King (for the original chicken sandwich, plain), McDonald’s (double cheese burger, only ketchup, or chicken mcnuggets with fries and a sweet tea; or Long John Silver’s (love the chicken there too)
Again you may not like them, but hey I dig the taste.
Hi John, I think perhaps you will want to re-read what Vani wrote. She did not demand that no one ever eat at Panera. She simply said that she won’t be eating there and did we really want to? Posing a question and giving us information so that we can make our own choices.
You make your choices, the rest of us make ours. She is simply providing us with information that we can (but do not have to) use to help us make those decisions.
I wouldn’t be caught at all eating most of the foods you list, but that is your choice and isn’t that great that you have one and have made your current decision. Doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind at a later date :o)
Don’t over look the monosodium glutamate and hydrolized soy protein (also MSG) in the dressing for the Apple Salad.!!!
Ordered 2 turkey sandwiches for a long bus ride. Halfway through the trip, realized after a couple of bites that I was chewing the material that separates their deli meat. Oh, found in both sandwiches too. Ew!
That just sounds like a poor attention on the employee’s part and not an indictment of Panera Bread’s food in general.
Well, actually, it is. Turned me off their food completely.
Shortly after Panera Bread started popping up in San Antonio, I had to go to a meeting that was scheduled there – at lunch time. (I avoid all chain restaurants until I check them out because a tiny bit of MSG will knock me out with a migraine.) I reviewed the ingredients online before hand. I was surprised how many items on their menu had MSG in them. Usually I can narrow it down to soups or salad dressings. But it was in at least half of the menu items. That was several years ago. I’ve been there one other time since then, but it wasn’t over lunch. I won’t go back.
OMG- I just ate the Broccoli cheese soup at PB today at got violently ill after. Ive kept a food log bc I have been consista tly sick after eating out at restaurants and my nurse sister told me to check about MSG and SURE ENOUGH- Poof- issue solved. I checked all the foods I had eaten at various restaurants and they ALL had MSG.
Theresa- I’m sorry to hear that but I’m glad you figured it out! The effects of MSG are awful!
Heard of happycow.net? List of vegan and vegetarian restaurants across the country…worth checking out when you travel
Hi. My comment is regarding organic bread. I saw that Vani recommends “Ezekiel” bread. How does Ezekiel stack up against “Dave’s Killer Organic Bread”?
Thanks.
Thank You Food Babe ! I recently moved to a new area and one of the neighbors was telling me about Panera Bread and about how that is a great thing for the neighborhood. I have never been in a Panera Bread restaurant and was excited to read your review about it because I know nothing about it ~ clearly my ” money rich” neighbor who lives in the fancy house and who has the fancy car does not know much about nutrition/Panera Bread’s ingredience either ~ so thank you for sorting me out and knowing the truth about that restaurant prior to me walking in their door which I shall now avoid. Thank You for your research/article/good work……..Much Appreciation, Catalina
Yea once they introduced the salad dressings at the grocery store.. i can’t get over the fact of the disgusting ingredients.. So I choose not to buy it.. None of it is truly edible.
I notice that when the Amish are out they always plan ahead and pack meals even if it is as simple as cheese and bread. I try to make sure I do the same now.
I did not see wood pulp in the cheese. What ingredient in the cheese is the wood pulp?
Cellulose.
Propylene Glycol is not car antifreeze you moron. Thats is ethylene glycol.
I was just going to post this.
How about not eating animals for a start?
Not to offend anyone, but please consider – “As far as eating is concerned, humans are the most stupid animals on the planet. We kill billions of wild animals to protect the animals that we eat. We are destroying our enviroment to feed to the animals we eat. We spend more time, money and resources fattening up the animals that we eat than we do feeding humans who are dying of hunger. The greatest irony is that after all the expenses of raising these animals, we eat them; and they kill us slowly. And rather than recognize this madness, we torture and murder millions of other animals trying to find cures to diseases caused by eating animals in the first place.” -Mike Anderson
well said.
The problem is that nitrates are found naturally in many foods, e.g. soy, celery, etc.
Your arguments are, unfortunately, a little bit weak.
Nitrates have been used since the 1800s and are only “chemical” in the strictest ordinary sense of the word – we’re all made of organic chemicals, for instance. While I’m not going to pretend its 100% good for you, it is part of the traditional curing process for meats and since ham is a cured meat well there you go. All things in moderation! Pork itself is bad for you in the first place.
MSG is an amino acid and responsible for an entire taste group. It exists naturally in seaweed. Yes, too much of it is bad for you…but again, that’s too much. MSG is natural, get over it. Just because its been overused in the past doesn’t automatically make it bad on its own.
Also I forgot to mention about the Nitrates: While I’m sure they’re regularly synthesized now, its something you can just find in the ground, just like other kinds of salt. Its a salt!
When in the Pacific Northwest, try Burgerville. Yes, it is fast food but they use only local ingredients. It is the only fast food that DOESN’T make me sick.
I’ve not read through all the comments, and with that said, before we bash Panera please note that this blog was written two years ago. I’m sure there have been changes to the many things at Panera and in the organic food industry since then.
Science, Food Babe. It could be your friend if you just let it…
This is not a big surprise, in fact, it’s not a surprise at all. I would never expect any chain restaurant to serve unprocessed food. Today it seems impossible to get a real healthy option from a chain restaurant, just because the cost will be a lot higher for the company. Also because it takes time to actually prepare something. You really don’t need to see the list of ingredients to figure out how unhealthy a meal is going to be. Just by smelling your plate and looking at the colors of the ingredients you can tell that something’s off. To me, processed food is not actual food. I only eat it if I have no other option. I don’t have a lot of money, but I would rather eat rice/pasta/potatoes and a couple of organic veggies every day rather than these so-called healthy meals.
I have heard that Panera and Chipoltle are owned by McDonalds. If this is true I am not surprised.
Panera is not owned by Mcdonalds. It is the same company as St. Louis Bread, and Paradise Cafe’s in the West.
Lets create an organic healthy inexpensive fast food franchise!!! pretty please!
This is no surprise. “Restaurants” like this are simply glorified McDonalds. Nothing is cooked on the premises. There’s no chef adding olive oil to the soup – it’s in a factory where GMO soy is cheap and plentiful. The soup is sent in frozen and it’s simply defrosted. There’s no organic anything – and the cheapest processed meats are used in the sandwiches. You’re more likely to get someone more natural by knowing your “mom and pop” style restaurant – and knowing and asking where they get their oils, meats, breads from. If they’re worth eating at, then in my opinion they used locally sourced dairy, meats and bread (from local bakeries). Basically all chain restaurants have this method of “cooking” so support local businesses! There may be one chain restaurant that is changing the way they serve – Chipotle, but even they have yet to offer organic produce. And lettuce is one of the dirty dozen.
I’m so sad right now. Yep. Sad. To make it worse, I ate one of their fall “pumpkin something or other bagels” and when I took a bite, I swear there was some kind of chemical poof that coated my throat. It was gross. I could smell it, taste it, ick. Looks like I’m back to my own kitchen. I did, however, perfect my own butternut squash pumpkin soup last week….and will be eating that instead of Panera’s autumn squash soup.
Anyone else feel a “how dare you!” coming on? Yah. Me, too.
The Pumpkin Pie bagel is dusted with confectioners sugar after it is baked and put on display.