WALL STREET JOURNAL: …The sandwich-and-salad chain, which has nearly 1,900 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, plans to eliminate ingredients such as fat substitutes and propylene glycol, a preservative used in consumer products as diverse as deodorant and electronic cigarettes. It has been working on the plans since 2012, and already has cut ingredients like sucralose, an artificial sweetener, and titanium dioxide, used to whiten mozzarella cheese.
The changes by Panera—a company already among leaders in reacting to health trends such as the growing preference for meat raised without antibiotics—highlight the complexity of revamping restaurant supply chains to adapt to fast-changing consumer tastes.
Panera’s move will apply to soups, sandwiches, salad dressings and many baked goods, but artificial ingredients will remain in some products, including soda… (more)
