If you enjoy eating at Panera Bread, you might notice a new label on their menus that is intended to help customers make eco-conscious choices.
This week, the national soup and sandwich chain announced the Cool Food Meal label, which is placed beside menus items that have a carbon footprint under 5.38 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent, CNBC reported. That threshold is actually 38 percent lower than the average American meal, which is the size reduction we need to help meet the 2030 targets established in the Paris Agreement.
The label, which was designed with the help of the World Resources Institute (WRI), has been applied to about 55 percent of Panera’s menu items. That includes some of the chain’s most popular items, including the Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt and the Broccoli Cheddar Soup.
As Panera looks to guide its customers to more eco-friendly diet choices, we hope other chains pick up on the initiative and turn it into a trend.
