Panera to start listing the amount of sugar in its drinks
- Panera is making new cups to show the amount of sugar and number of calories in its drinks
- The chain is trying to appeal to Americans worried about their health
- The cups will be available in 8 cities this week and all stores by mid September
- Adults are supposed to have a maximum of six to eight teaspoons of added sugar a day
- Many experts say added sugar is one of the worst ingredients in modern diets
Abigail Miller For Dailymail.com
and
Associated Press
4
View
comments
Panera Bread will launch new cups that display the amount of added sugar and number of calories in seven of its drinks.
The move is the latest by the company to appeal to Americans who are increasingly concerned about what’s in their food and drinks.
In the past few years Panera and other chain restaurant have been tweaking their recipes and removing artificial ingredients to match consumers’ changing tastes.
Panera said the new cups will be available in eight cities this week, including New York, Chicago and St Louis.
They will be in all of the chain’s more than 2,000 locations by the middle of September.
This photo provided by Panera Bread shows a 20-ounce fountain drink in a cup that lists the amount of added sugar and calories in seven of the restaurant’s drinks, including cola and teas. Panera said the new cups will be available in eight cities the week
-
Men and women who are overweight BEFORE pregnancy are likely…
10 REASONS: to eat a Mediterranean diet
SOME OF PANERA BREAD’S MORE CALORIC MENU ITEMS
Food
- Macaroni and cheese: 470-1,140 cal
- Broccoli cheddar soup: 230-900 cal
- Whole Southwest chili lime ranch salad with chicken: 650 cal
- Steak and white cheddar panini: 950 cal
When served in a bread bowl, Panera’s macaroni and cheese has 1,140 calories
Drink
- Blood orange lemonade: 260 cal
- Bottled passion fruit papaya green tea- 200 cal
- Frozen caramel: 560 cal
- Pepsi cola: 250 cal
Panera’s Blood Orange lemonade has 260 calories
CEO Ron Shaich said the cups list the amount of added sugar in teaspoons instead of grams because it’s less confusing.
‘I think the only people who really understand grams are drug dealers and Walter White,’ Shaich explained, referring to the drug-dealing character from the TV show Breaking Bad.
Added sugar is considered to be one of the worst ingredients in the modern diet according to many experts.
Though the safest bet is to avoid any added sugar, the American Heart Association says that the maximum amount of added sugars someone should eat in their day is nine teaspoons for a man or six teaspoons for a woman.
The new Panera cups show that a 20 ounce soda has 17.25 teaspoons of added sugar and 250 calories.
And as far as drinks made by the restaurant, its blood orange lemonade has 8.25 teaspoons of added sugar and 160 calories, and the plum ginger hibiscus tea has no added sugars or calories.
The chain began listing sugar counts near its soda fountains in March when it launched its new iced teas, lemonades and other fruity beverages.
Currently in the United States seven percent of all calories consumed can be attributed to sugary drinks – which barely contribute any nutritional value. More than a third of Americans are currently obese.
And that is despite a huge drop in the consumption of sugary drinks in the last few years – which has declined 27 percent since 1998.
Since making the initial switch in March, eight percent of Panera’s fountain soda-drinking customers have switched to iced teas and other non-bubbly drinks, the company said.
So these new cups will likely encourage even more people to make the switch.
Shaich said PepsiCo, which provides Panera’s soft drinks, was told about the new cups, but he declined to describe the discussions.
PepsiCo said in a statement that it offers several drinks with no sugar added and no calories, and that the company and Panera ‘are both on a journey to offer consumers healthier beverage options.’
A study conducted by Consumer Reports showed that simply drinking 20 ounces of water instead of the same amount of soda will save you 119 cups of sugar.
Making this switch will protect your body from absorbing 52 extra pounds of refined sugar over 12 months, the study said.
Share or comment on this article
-
Manspreaders beware! LA to start fining inconsiderate… -
They thought it looked fetching! Hilarious moment a dog… -
Nothing will get between this pooch and his treat! Clever… -
Police hunt man who stole a $50 Bangin’ Betty sex toy… -
Computer glitch sends thousands of gallons of raw SEWAGE… -
Michigan mother-of-two ‘stole $200,000 from life… -
‘I’m going to push you’: Man shoves mother-of-three onto… -
Heartwarming moment a Minnesota cop pulls over to dance… -
Six caskets are pulled from their resting place inside a… -
Paul Ryan says government shutdown is not ‘in our… -
Michigan man, 25, who stabbed his 5-year-old stepdaughter… -
Motorcyclist has a 4ft long metal bar speared through his… -
Ruffling feathers on the subway! Shocked commuter films a… -
Bizarre Japanese tourism advert filled with innuendos and… -
State Department’s climate science envoy resigns in note… -
Charlottesville city workers cover Confederate statues in… -
How the Netflix algorithm knows what you REALLY want to… -
McConnell all-but confirms Trump feud with business-like…
Comments 4
Share what you think
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Close
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual.
Close
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual
We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.
You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.