Panera Bread goes natural with new "at Home" push

The fight for healthier food got a new boost on Wednesday as Panera Bread announced that it will continue to remove artificial ingredients from its retail products.

The latest focus is on the company's Panera at Home line of grocery products. Panera said that it expects its entire "at Home" line to be free of artificial flavors, sweeteners, preservatives and colors by the end of the year. The move follows the company's previously announced plans last year to rid its in-store offerings from unnatural ingredients by the 2016, even creating a "No No List" showing the artificial ingredients it would be removing and the status of their removal.

Panera currently has close to 2,000 locations nationwide. The company's "at Home" line currently consists of approximately 50 products sold in retail and grocery stores, ranging from salad dressings, bread and coffee to macaroni and cheese, pasta and salad dressings. The company says its refrigerated soup line commands 35% of the market.

“Much of the work that we’ve done to simplify recipes in our bakery-cafes has set a standard for Panera at Home products. However, the challenges in the consumer packaged goods space are unique, where artificial additives have long been used to preserve taste and appearance,” said Sara Burnett, Panera's director of wellness and food policy in a statement announcing the news.

“For us, the answer was often simple. For instance, we decided early on to use refrigeration to help extend shelf life for products like our soups and salad dressings. Where necessary, we’ve relied on natural preservatives – such as rosemary extract – to do the job.”

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