The Dish: Choose your sandwich with care at Panera
March 16, 2012
Megan Ogilvie
HEALTH REPORTER
RESTAURANT: Panera Bread
LOCATION: 322 Yonge St., one of four branches in the GTA
Sometimes, nothing satisfies a grumbling stomach quite like a carefully built sandwich.
So, with the recent opening of Panera Bread near Dundas Square — the American bakery café’s fourth location in the GTA — The Dish decided to investigate how its carefully constructed sandwiches stack up nutritionally.
On a recent sunny day, the Yonge St. location was bustling. Many newcomers to the chain took some extra time to scour the menu board for the right sandwich (or soup or salad) that would satisfy their hungry bellies.
It is hard to choose. There are cold sandwiches and warm sandwiches, premium sandwiches and signature sandwiches. Each comes on hand-crafted artisanal bread, and many have at least one mouth-watering ingredient — cilantro hummus, smoked gouda or sesame semolina bread, for example — to tempt taste buds.
On the advice of registered dietitian Zannat Reza, I selected a half portion of the asiago roast beef signature sandwich for lunch.
In this humble diner’s opinion, the sandwich was as tasty a one as I could dream up at home, with just the right mix of cheese, meat and tangy horseradish. Though, next time I will ask for extra lettuce and tomatoes, which seemed fairly scant on an otherwise substantial sandwich; you can never go wrong with extra veggies — for their nutrition benefit and crunchy texture.
There is no customizing of sandwiches, but diners get to choose between an apple, potato chips or a baguette for their side.
To help diners (like me) who want a tasty — and healthy — sandwich, Reza examined Panera’s nutrition information to identify two sandwiches that contain an overwhelming number of calories for a meal and to highlight two combos that get a dietitian’s thumbs up.
To Panera’s credit, the bakery café does offer detailed nutrition information for its wares on its website. However, it would be even better if those numbers were readily available in the bakery café so diners can easily decide whether a salmon club or tuna salad sandwich is better for their waistline.
If it seems too onerous to check nutrition numbers for your favourite sandwich, Reza has the following advice: “Most sandwiches at restaurants are huge. Eat half and you'll still be satisfied. Also, switch up the ratio of meat to veggies by asking for more fresh veggies and less meat. And ask for whole grain bread if you can. Most restaurants are happy to please their customers.”
Verdict Choose your sandwich with care to ensure it doesn’t contain an overwhelming number of calories.
Italian Combo Signature Sandwich
“On ciabatta with roast beef, smoked turkey, smoked ham, salami, Swiss cheese, peperoncini, lettuce, tomatoes, onions & our special spread”
SERVING SIZE 488 grams
CALORIES 980
FAT 41 grams
SODIUM 2,620 mg
PROTEIN 58 grams
CARBOHYDRATES 95 grams (including 5 grams dietary fibre)
DIETITIAN’S VERDICT This sandwich has twice as many calories as most people should eat in one meal and its sodium exceeds the recommended maximum daily allotment. It also has more calories, about the same amount of fat and almost twice as much sodium than what’s in KFC’s infamous Double Down sandwich.
Salmon Club Premium Signature Sandwich
“On a french croissant with salmon filet, smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato & our zesty tomato aioli”
SERVING SIZE 300 grams
CALORIES 820
FAT 57 grams
SODIUM 1,410 mg
PROTEIN 40 grams
CARBOHYDRATES 38 grams (including 2 grams dietary fibre)
DIETITIAN’S VERDICT It would be easy to mistake this club sandwich as a potentially healthy choice because of its nutritious salmon filet. But Reza says it contains almost double the calories the average woman should look for in a meal and has 87 per cent of her daily fat intake. Sodium-wise, it contains almost as much as your body needs in a day.
Half Classic Café Salad
“Field greens, romaine, vine-ripened tomatoes, cucumbers, onions & our reduced-fat balsamic vinaigrette”
SERVING SIZE 140 grams
CALORIES 80
FAT 5 grams
SODIUM 140 mg
PROTEIN 1 gram
CARBOHYDRATES 9 grams (including 2 grams dietary fibre)
DIETITIAN’S VERDICT This classic salad is the best bet — nutritionally — among Panera’s offering of greens. But if you are looking for a bit more oomph in your salad, Reza says you would do well to choose the half Caesar over the Greek, which has 500 mg more sodium than its creamy counterpart.
Half Tuna Salad Café Sandwich
“On honey wheat with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, salt & pepper”
SERVING SIZE 153 grams
CALORIES 250
FAT 8 grams
SODIUM 580 mg
PROTEIN 14 grams
CARBOHYDRATES 31 grams (including 3 grams dietary fibre)
Half Asiago Roast Beef Signature Sandwich
“On asiago cheese demi with roast beef, smoked cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes, onions & our horseradish spread”
SERVING SIZE 184 grams
CALORIES 350
FAT 14 grams
SODIUM 660 mg
PROTEIN 24 grams
CARBOHYDRATES 32 grams (including 2 grams dietary fibre)
DIETITIAN’S VERDICT These two half sandwiches — both fairly decadent in the taste department — get a thumbs up from Reza for their reasonable nutrition numbers. And while the sodium in each is about half of what your body needs in a day, it’s hard to find better sodium numbers from sandwiches constructed outside your home.
For each choice, Reza has one tip: Swap the fancy bread for the whole grain loaf to help cut calories and sodium. (Reza points out the name ‘whole grain loaf’ is a bit misleading since its first ingredient — after water — is enriched wheat flour, not whole grains).