Papa John's To Spend $100 Million To Rid Artificial Ingredients And Preservatives From Menu

Companies like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have recently made a push to rid artificial ingredients from their menus, and Papa John's will be doing the same.

Papa John's announced that they will spend about $100 million a year to remove the chemicals and additives from their menus, according to Bloomberg. John Schnatter, founder and CEO of Papa John's, talked with Bloomberg about the expenses associated with this transition. "It's hard to remove some of these things and still get the flavor and functionality you want," said Schnatter. "We gave up flavor on the ranch dressing because I wanted to get the chemical out."

The primary ingredients targeted for removal are corn syrup, artificial colors, and preservatives. Papa John's aims to take out these ingredients by the end of 2016.

Last year, Papa John's removed monosodium glutamate (MSG) from their ranch dressing and artificial trans fats (which is now being phased out of America) from the garlic sauce. The pizza chain started posting their ingredients online this year.

Many fast food chains are making efforts to become more transparent and hopefully more restaurants will continue to follow.