Kraft had recently announced that it would be removing artificial ingredients and synthetic colors in its popular macaroni and cheese, according to Modern Farmer.
Panera Bread is the next company to jump on the bandwagon of making food healthier for consumers.
Panera Bread announced this week that it would be getting rid of more than 150 food additives by the end of 2016, according to NPR.
“We are not scientists,” said Panera Bread CEO Ron Shaich in a statement.
“We are people who know and love food, and who believe that the journey to better food starts with simpler ingredients.”
Aside from Panera Bread, Chipotle had also announced recently that it would be getting rid of all genetically modified ingredients, according to Today. At least a dozen other food companies and restaurants reportedly stated that they would be making similar decisions in the past six months.
Panera Bread’s head chef, Dan Kish, reportedly analyzed over the hundreds of additives in the ingredients that the company uses, and after realizing titanium dioxide was used for cosmetic purposes, he decided to take it out along with several other additives.
“We think a simplified pantry is a better pantry,” explained Kish.
Although food advocates applauded Panera’s recently announced decision, they maintained that consumers should remain cautious.
“Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40 and other artificial food dyes shouldn’t be in the food supply in the first place, but I applaud Panera for getting rid of them,” stated Michael F. Jacobson, executive director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
“But just because something is artificial or its name is hard to pronounce doesn’t mean it’s unsafe. Some of the additives Panera is ditching are perfectly innocuous, such as calcium propionate or soda, lactate — so those moves are more about public relations than public health.”
