Panera Bread To Scrap All Remaining Artificial Ingredients In Its Retail Stories

Panera Bread Co. said Wednesday it is planning to scrap all remaining artificial flavors, sweeteners, preservatives and colors from its Panera at Home products. The company said it expects all of its nearly 50 grocery items to be free of all additives on its "No No List" by the end of the year. Panera has already committed to removing all of the artificial ingredients at its nearly 2,000 bakery-cafes by end 2016 "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 director of wellness and food policy. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up 11.6% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.5%.