While we all know that too much eating out isn’t so good for us (for our health or our wallets), many of us have the perception that certain places are “better” than others. McDonald’s has a particular reputation of being especially bad. In contrast, Chick-Fil-A has a reputation of being “better.” (That’s not true though.)
Another restaurant that has a reputation of being “better” is Panera Bread. It’s fresh (they say), and they offer some organic items on their menu. So surely they truly care about the quality of their food?
Late in 2012 I was working on my book, A Practical Guide to Children’s Health, and I spent a lot of time working away from home, where I could get more done. Panera was one of the places I frequented during that time. I, too, thought it was “better” than most. But when I investigated, I found out…no, it isn’t.
Is Panera Healthy?
With their fresh salads, sandwiches topped with veggies, freshly-baked breads, and organic menu items, surely they are healthier than most? The ingredients appear to be good….
But, check out their website and you will find a different story.
One of my favorite things to order there is the broccoli-cheddar soup. (Although now I just make my own at home, which I know does not contain any additives!) Here are the ingredients (emphasis added):
Broccoli cheddar (Water, milk, broccoli, pasteurized process cheddar cheese [cheddar cheese {pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes}, water, sodium phosphate, milkfat, salt, apocarotenal {color}], cream [cream, milk] carrots, modified corn starch, onions, chicken base [chicken meat in chicken broth {chicken meat, chicken broth, chicken fat, modified corn starch and/or rice flour, salt}, salt, hydrolyzed corn and soy protein, sugar, natural flavorings, potato flour, autolyzed yeast extract, carrot powder, turmeric], flour [bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], butter [cream, salt], seasoning [salt, spices, extractives of paprika], soybean oil, mustard [water, vinegar, mustard seed, salt, white wine, fruit pectin, citric acid, tartaric acid, sugar, spice], pepper sauce [vinegar, red pepper, salt]).
So, that’s what’s really in Panera’s “healthy” broccoli-cheddar soup. Check out all those food additives! Modified food starches may be from GMO sources. ”Autolyzed yeast extract” is a hidden source of MSG. And of course, this doesn’t even touch on the fact that they’re using milk from conventional cows, bleached flour, and other not-so-great foods.
Well, they’re known for their bagels. They’re supposed to be a sourdough base. Surely the bagels are better than most store-bought breads? Let’s take a look at the ingredients in their plain bagel (emphasis added):
Unbleached enriched wheat flour (flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, bagel base (sugar, salt, malted barley flour, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, molasses powder [molasses, wheat starch], yeast, soybean oil, ascorbic acid, enzymes [wheat]), brown sugar, yeast.
While it’s not too bad — it uses mostly unbleached flour — it still contains some additives and soybean oil. Most at-home bagel recipes do not include any sort of oil, by the way.
Most people aren’t going to go for the plain bagel, though. Let’s take a look at a fun one, the Cinnamon Crunch (emphasis added):
Unbleached enriched wheat flour (flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, cinnamon sugar topping (sugar, cinnamon, modified food starch, soybean oil), white confectionery drop (sugar, palm kernel oil, nonfat milk powder, whole milk powder, whey powder, palm oil, soy lecithin [emulsifier], vanilla), cinnamon flavored confectionery chip (sugar, palm kernel oil, nonfat milk powder, cinnamon, natural flavor, soy lecithin [as emulsifier]), bagel base (sugar, salt, malted barley flour, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, molasses powder [molasses, wheat starch], yeast, soybean oil, ascorbic acid, enzymes [wheat]), honey, vanilla flavor (water, propylene glycol, alcohol, artificial flavors, caramel color), brown sugar, yeast, palm oil shortening.
Well, that has a whole bunch of rather scary ingredients. It isn’t as simple as a plain bagel with cinnamon and sugar! That would be too easy. Lots of modified food starch, soybean oil and lecithin, artificial flavors…. Many of these ingredients are linked to human health issues.
How about their salads? Surely a salad is safe. Let’s look at one of my favorites, the Caesar salad (emphasis added):
Romaine lettuce, Caesar Dressing (soybean oil, water, egg yolk, onion, celery, dehydrated garlic, red wine and distilled vinegar, contains less than 2% of: anchovy powder [dextrin, anchovy extract {fish}, salt], sugar, Worcestershire sauce [distilled vinegar, molasses, corn syrup, water, salt, caramel color, garlic powder, sugar, spices, tamarind, natural flavor], mustard [distilled vinegar, water, mustard seed, salt, turmeric, paprika, spice, garlic powder], salt, spice, citric acid, lemon juice solids, corn syrup solids, natural flavor, ascorbic acid, xanthan gum, polysorbate 60, propylene glycol alginate [for thickness], potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA added to protect flavor), Asiago Croutons (unbleached enriched wheat flour (flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, asiago crouton mix (margarine [soybean oil, water, mono- and diglycerides, salt, whey, soy lecithin, sodium benzoate, natural and artificial flavor, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene {color}], asiago cheese [pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes], dehydrated garlic and onion, spices and salt), enriched durum wheat flour (durum flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Asiago cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, microbial & animal enzymes), enriched semolina wheat flour (semolina, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Parmesan cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, microbial enzymes), salt, Romano cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), yeast, dough conditioners (ascorbic acid, microcrystalline cellulose, corn starch)), fetina cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, microbial & animal enzymes).
That is a crazy long list of ingredients. It should be much shorter — Caesar dressing can be made with 5 – 6 ingredients, plus cheese and lettuce. Not a big deal! Except here, it is. There are lots of soy and corn-derived ingredients in here, probably GMO. The first ingredient in the dressing is soybean oil! Look at all the preservatives and dough conditioners. ”Cellulose” is derived from wood pulp. Sodium benzoate is linked to cancer. This salad is worse than the bagels and soup!
Maybe something off the kids’ menu is better. They wouldn’t feed junk to kids, would they? Let’s pick blueberry yogurt (organic) and a turkey sandwich.
The yogurt (emphasis added):
organic blueberry yogurt (cultured pasteurized organic grade A lowfat milk, organic evaporated cane juice, organic blueberries, organic tapioca starch, natural flavor, organic locust bean gum, pectin, carrageenan, tricalcium phosphate and live active cultures (S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, L. casei).
Okay, it’s not terrible. It contains organic milk, evaporated cane juice, and real organic blueberries, plus live active cultures. That’s good. But it also contains natural flavors and thickeners, plus the preservative tricalcium phosphate. Carrageenan is a probable human carcinogen (causes cancer). We can’t actually call this good.
How about the sandwich (emphasis added)?
All Natural White Bread (unbleached enriched wheat flour [flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], water, high heat milk solids [milk protein concentrate, non-fat dry milk, lactose], butter [milk], sugar, salt, natural base [calcium diphosphate, malted barley flour, dextrose, distilled monoglycerides, rye flour, sunflower lecithin, wheat flour, enzymes, ascorbic acid], yeast, wheat gluten), sliced smoked turkey breast (turkey breast, turkey broth, contains less than 2% potassium lactate, salt, brown sugar, sodium phosphate, sodium diacetate, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, smoke flavoring), organic American cheese (cultured organic pasteurized milk, organic nonfat milk, organic milkfat, sodium citrate, salt, organic annatto [vegetable color], microbial enzymes [non-animal, rennetless]).
Hmm. There are some additives in that bread, and in that meat. Lots of phosphates and nitrates in the turkey! These, too, are linked to cancer in humans.
Healthy Chain Restaurants?
The upshot is, there really are no healthy chain restaurants that I am aware of. They may offer some organic ingredients, they may promise fresh. They may have an image as “better.” But, if you take a look at their actual ingredients, you will still find a lot of food additives. It’s pretty much impossible to avoid soy- and corn-derived ingredients in any form of processed foods (which is usually GMO).
The safest (and cheapest) way to eat will always be to eat at home, or bring your food with you.
I share all this not to make you feel guilty for eating in these restaurants or tell you that you are harming your family if you ever have a bad day or take a trip and swing by one of them. I simply want everyone to be aware of what is really in food and not believe that they are serving their family something that is truly “healthy” when they are not. I don’t want anyone to get caught up in the restaurant’s “image” and forget to look for the real information.
People deserve to know the truth so that they can make accurate decisions about what is best for their families. This is especially important for those who suffer from food allergies. Completely avoiding corn, soy, dairy, and gluten is next to impossible! And these are not always declared on a menu due to hidden sources (like modified food starch can contain gluten). It certainly makes eating out hard, and that can be tough when you run into a busy season. And maybe, on special occasions, you decide to just ignore it, and that’s fine. It’s just not a good idea to make eating out a regular habit, even at a “better” place.
Next time you are out and tempted to stop, try not to. Remember what’s in the food, and how expensive it is, and go home to make a quick meal instead. I like to keep cheese and various fruits and veggies on hand, and sometimes canned salmon, so that I can make a meal very quickly on busy days.
Did you know this about Panera, or did you believe it was truly “healthier?”
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TESTING!
Thank you for this! Could you do one for Moe’s also? Thanks!
I guess I’m a newb but why is soybean oil so bad? What oil would be acceptable?
Hi Cassie. Soybean Oil is likely made from GMO soybeans, and is likely rancid as well. Your best oils are coconut oil, lard, beef tallow, grass-fed butter, and olive oil.
I wonder what 5 Guys would look like.
We have local chains called Yumm! Cafe and Dickey Joe’s. Yumm! Cafe has a signature sauce that is not good bc it gives me heartburn. But the rest of their food is awesome! Dickey Joe’s has fabulous gluten free buns and all fries are fresh cut and gluten free!
I always figured that in general, soups at restaurants are not healthy, since they never actually make them from scratch. I am a little disappointed about the salad, though. Another commenter mentioned Moe’s, and I’m curious about Chipotle, myself. I agree though that it’s a healthier to make food at home, and it’s definitely cheaper!
I’m pretty sure Chipotle can be considered a healthy restaurant! They try to use organic vegetables, as much as possible, pastured meats, too…check out their ingredients list! They’re a good choice.
The use naturaly rasied meats, this is from their site:
When we started purchasing naturally raised beef in 1999 we could hardly find any suppliers that met our standards. We’ve put a lot of work into poking, prodding, convincing, and occasionally applying guilt to ranchers in order to get more and more suppliers to meet our naturally raised standards.
Today, thanks to increased demand, we source 100% of our beef from ranches that meet or exceed our naturally raised standards. Once in awhile we do experience a shortage in certain areas of the country and we’ll let you know at the restaurants if that happens.
Here’s a link to Food Babe’s investigation of Chipotle and Moe’s. http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/08/14/food-babe-investigates-chipotle-vs-moes/
Whew! Wow! I am making changes slowly. Now we use only raw milk, honey or stevia, as many organics as we can afford, coconut oil, gluten free oats and flours. But really, how much can we take? This is just crazy! Oh my, working it all out is a full time job. But, if we want to remain healthy, we have to. Thanks for the info. I appreciate you doing all that leg work for us! One step at a time, it will come. Planting a garden like I used to is next!
Linda
The owner of Chipotle’s was on Oprah and said they used lots of organic ingredients.
Hi. I do agree whole heartedly that that items which you chose are not very healthy. I would like to state however that panera does carry other soups that do not have all those yucky additives and although all the salad dressings do contain soybean oil they now have olive oil and lemon juice to use as a dressing instead. As a manager for panera I eat there quite often because it really helps our budget but as a reader of this blog and many like it I do my best to eat very healthy and choose wisely from the items they do carry. That being said, the whole restaurant is not a safe zone for those on a whole food sjourney but if necessary to eat out thbey do have some healthy choices.
When I eat out at Panera (and many other places), I order the salad w/ no dressing or vinegar and oil if they have it. If not, I shake my own salt/pepper that I bring w/ me.
I love Chipotle! I would love to hear if their food is really as good as they claim. It is the one restaurant I know of that I don’t feel horrible after eating there.
(Jill) Beverly-check out the 100 Days of Real Food post on it. Being a real foodie AND GF…it is practically impossible to eat out. But I read the Chipotle review and while it is not ideal…I am ok with it on occasion (plus I don’t eat some of the bigger offenders-chips/tortillas/etc.).
Food Babe did an investigation into Chipotle, I believe. I will see if I can fine the link. She has done a lot of other chains as well.
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/08/14/food-babe-investigates-chipotle-vs-moes/
Yuck, all the more reason not to like Panera. Personaly I don’t like to eat at resturants where I can make the same meal at home for less, that tastes better and is better for you. When I eat out I tend to stick to Thai or Korean, I’m still working on good copy cat dishes for those.
Sadly I have known about Panera for about a year. I used to love it there but I looked up the nutritional info on their website and could only find 2 menu items without trans fats
I too would be curious to hear about Chipotle, Moe’s, and 5 Guys
Chipotle’s sour cream is homemade and fresh grassfed cows, too, from my understanding. Now I have to go chek their website.
Why are my comments not approved? I didn’t say anything controversial!
We have a chain in our town growing a bit regionally called cafe yumm and we feel lucky to have it. They have great whole foods! Brown rice bowls etc, they sell their sauce at many whole foods now.
I usually get a salad and an apple with unsweetened iced tea to drink. Still a waaaayyy better choice than a burger, fries and a diet soda from a fast food burger joint! For those of us struggling just to eat more fruits, veggies, and fresher foods, Panera is a decent option (not perfect) with healthIER choices. Especially since I quite frankly don’t have the drive, money or time to eliminate GMO’s or go all organic right now. Having a difficult time just decreasing highly processed and preservative-laden foods and trying to cook at home instead of eating out or grabbing a microwave dinner. I’ll take my family to Panera over McD’s anytime!
I figure it is a whole lot better than a burger chain. While I enjoy the broccoli cheddar soup, you blissfully ignore the fact that you can get bean soup and they offer a multi-grain baguette for those of us who like whole grains. Now it would be nice if I could justify the chocolate pastry.
Not ignoring at all. I don’t consider those really any better.
Bean soup ingredients:
Low fat black bean soup (water, black beans [may contain soy], onions, celery, vegetable base [cooked vegetables {carrot, celery, onion}, tomato paste, corn oil, yeast extract, potato flour, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, natural flavoring], red peppers, modified food starch, salt, spices, lemon juice, garlic powder).
Note the corn oil, yeast extract (MSG) and modified food starch.
Whole grain baguette ingredients:
Water, unbleached enriched wheat flour (flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), grain blend (cracked wheat, rye meal, whole spelt flour, whole amaranth, oats, flax ground, citrus fiber), whole wheat flour, honey, special blend (organic wheat sour, whole wheat flour, guar gum, defatted soy flour, malted barley extract, soy lecithin, enzyme, wheat gluten, ascorbic acid), wheat gluten, salt, yeast (yeast, sorbitan monostearate, ascorbic acid).
Lots of preservatives, soy flour, soy lecithing, guar gum, etc. Not to mention that despite being “whole grain,” the first major ingredient is WHITE flour.
Don’t be fooled into thinking anything on this menu is really “better” no matter how healthy it seems. It *all* has additives and junk.
I don’t know about chain restaurants, but I own and run a restaurant here where I live(Upstate NY), and we try very hard to provide healthy options for everybody, no matter what their body needs. Try asking around at some of your local restaurants, you may be pleasantly surprised at the options you have there!
Thank you so much for posting this! We try to eat whole foods as much as possible, but Panera has been a treat for us every once in a while. I didn’t do the proper research and I am glad to know the truth now. I love this website so much. You guys post terrific information.
A family membr of mine works at Panera and has told me that nothing there is made from scratch. The soup is basically pre-packaged and heated (I think it might even come in powder form). I asked my family member the other day when we were there if she could blend me some banana for my daughter, since I know they make smoothies, and she said they don’t have any. Even the smoothies are powdered, they didn’t have anything fresh to blend for her (I guess if you count the veggies in the salad, that’s fresh).
I totally agree with you! I own a cafe (The New Deli) (not a chain!), and can’t stand the gross stuff that typical products are made of. So we make our salad dressings and soups and such from scratch… It really helps us to be able to offer healthier foods.
But there’s not a ton of money in it. Sadly, so many businesses are driven by profit. Of course there’s way more profit in offering cheaply produced foods. It takes more labor (which the owner pays for), to produce it from scratch. We have to run our business carefully, making sure that every single employee understands how to do what we do efficiently, so that we can afford to offer better quality.
I’m so glad you were able to print out the ingredients. I hadn’t determined what exactly was in all that food, but had suspected the worse! GMO is a pretty big deal (in my book), I hate to see stuff like “modified starch” (or the like). It is NOT a harmless ingredient.
Thanks for the great, informative post!