Panera Bread announced Wednesday that it will be the first nationwide chain to voluntarily post calorie information at all of its company-owned restaurants. The move is notable in an industry that had historically opposed requirements that chain operations post calorie counts.
But the landscape is changing as local laws mandating nutritional disclosure become more common and Congress considers a nationwide mandate. Panera officials said the possibility of wider mandates played a role in the move.
The chain expects calorie counts to be posted by March 24 at 585 company-owned restaurants. That schedule puts Panera ahead of Yum Brands — parent of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s and A&W — which committed in 2008 to do so at corporate-owned restaurants nationwide by next Jan. 1. The Associated Press
