While Panera Bread is mostly trans fat free, it turns out they are not completely. Because of this, I have moved them on the restaurant list. Also, they are far from organic. It also turns out many of their products contain artificial colors, flavoring, and yes, high fructose corn syrup.
Even their home-made lemonade has HFCS.
Also a warning for those of you trying to lose weight, the saturated fat content of Panera Bread products is shockingly high.
This is a bummer to me as I ate there thinking everything served was healthful. The email I received from them is as follows:
Dear Gil,
Thank you for taking the time to find out how Panera deals with trans
fat and other ingredients.
Our customers’ well being is important to us at Panera. That’s why,
several years ago, we started looking into ways we could reduce or
eliminate trans fat from your favorite bakery and cafe items.
We proudly offer a menu essentially free of added trans fat. What does
this really mean?
Animal products, like dairy and meat, have small amounts of naturally
occurring trans fat. Naturally occurring trans fat cannot be entirely
eliminated.
Added trans fat - like partially hydrogenated vegetable oil - is found
in very small amounts in some food ingredients to help extend a food’s
shelf life and to stabilize food’s flavor.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has determined that foods that
have under 0.5 grams per serving of trans fat can be identified on the
Nutrition Facts Panel as having 0 grams trans fat.
You may see a few menu items listed on our nutritional information that
have 0.5 grams, 1 gram or even 1.5 grams of trans fat. These items
contain naturally occurring trans fat from butter, cheese and meats, and
a few may have very small amounts (less than 0.5 grams) of added trans
fat.
Panera is committed to exceeding its customers’ expectations for
delivering great tasting, quality food that people can trust. To this
end, Panera continues to look at ways to try to reduce or eliminate
added trans fat from its menu items.
The only item containing monosodium glutamate on the Panera menu is the
Greek Salad Dressing.
High fructose corn syrup is a widely-used and FDA-approved sweetener. We
are following the most recent scientific studies regarding its usage. To
date, there is no strong evidence to support the claims that it is
responsible for obesity or is any more or less healthy than sugar or
other sweeteners.
Any artificial coloring that we may use is also FDA approved. There are
many items on our bakery menu, however, that do not include
preservatives or artificial colors or flavors.
We have no information to share regarding interesterified fat, but if
you’d like, I can request that our nutrition group research it for you.
Let me know.
You can find nutrition and ingredients information for our products in
the Menu & Nutrition section of our website and at our bakery-cafes when
you request the information from a Manager.
Thank you again for contacting us. We appreciate your business and value
your comments.
Sincerely,
Stella
Customer Comment Coordinator
More information on their nutrition can be found here: http://www.panerabread.com/menu/