Panera Bread Removes Artificial Colors, Flavors And Preservatives From Its Soups

Panera Bread Co. on Wednesday became the latest company to move toward using more natural ingredients with the news that its soups no longer contain any artificial colors flavorings or preservatives. Panera said it sells about 200 million services of soup a year, and they no longer contain any of the common ingredients found in commercial soup, such as soy and corn protein, maltodextrin and sodium phosphate. The company said it's the first national restaurant to offer 'clean' soups. Shares were down 1.1% in premarket trade, but are up 11.5% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.7%.