The power of NO.

Panera Bread captured that power this week when it announced that it was banning 150 artificial additives including colors, flavors, preservatives, and sweeteners from the products in its stores. The internet was buzzing with the news.

Chipotle Mexican Grill caused a similar buzz the week before when it announced that it was prohibiting certain ingredients in its products as well.

That’s great when we go out to eat. But what about the majority of the time, when we are making meals at home, or even pulling snacks out of the cupboard.

When Wild Oats launched its line of consumer products early last year, it also unveiled a list of 125 ingredients that would never be in any of its products. That list began when Wild Oats was still a line of actual grocery stores.  Things like aspartame and high fructose corn syrup are items that customers are regularly avoiding these days. Ingredients like ascorbic acid and calcium propionate are less known, but equally as troubling.

The fact is that most of us don’t have time to research all of the items that we ought to be eliminating from our diets. The Organic Seal is the gold standard of assurance that these ingredients aren’t in our food. But when organic isn’t available, it’s nice to know there is a growing list of retailers and restaurants who are doing that homework for us in the other products we buy.

It feels good to say yes to the companies that are saying no.