Hi everyone!  As a quick little something for your Wednesday afternoon, I thought I’d share two great bits of news from the restaurant world.

1.  From QSR Magazine, it seems the folks at Panera Bread have topped Health Magazine’s recent list of the nation’s healthiest quick-serve restaurants!  We at the WGC are fans of Panera Bread and have included them on our list of Chain Restaurants serving whole grains for quite a while.  In addition to their whole grain options, Panera also offers customer the choice of apples or baked chips as side items; several mix and match soups, salads and sandwiches served in half-sized portions; and antibiotic- and hormone-free chicken.  Supposedly they also have a PB&J on their kid’s menu made with all-natural peanut butter – I know what I’ll be ordering next time I swing by!  Congrats to the folks at Panera, it’s great to know that Health Magazine has given you the nod you deserve.

2.  Our friends over at HealthyDiningFinder.com just announced the launch of their expanded and redesigned web site, making it even easier to find healthy menu items at 60,000 restaurant locations nationwide.  I just took a swing by and it looks beautiful!  New and enhanced features include a blog written by their nutrition experts and guest writers, an easy-to-understand Nutrition 101 section offering healthy lifestyle guidelines, a free e-newsletter that will be full of recipes and great advice, and their What’s New section will keep visitors to the site updated on the latest additions of both restaurants and resources.  Kudos to Erica and everyone at HealthyDiningFinder.com!

That’s it for now.  I’m sure I’ll have some interesting whole grain bits to share with you after my trip to Expo West in Anaheim later this week.  Stay tuned!  (Kara)