Greed T

The below is an email I sent to the Panera Bread Company:

Iced Green Tea:

I am writing with regards to your Iced “Green Tea.” The quotation marks are an indication of the only true statement regarding this product being “Iced.” After drinking a sip of the Iced “Green Tea” I ordered at one of your stores I noticed an overwhelming sweetness and distinct lack of tea taste. Meet with this unexpected taste I asked what was in the Iced “Green Tea.” I was told the Iced “Green Tea” contained fruit juices and may in fact contain no tea at all. I found this to be troubling at best.

After doing some research on your website I learned the Iced “Green Tea” does indeed contain “tea concentrate” along with evaporated cane sugar and is “infused” with papaya and passion fruit. Although taste is subjective and what may be too sweet for one may be just right for someone else, ingredients and labeling are of only a factual nature. Although your Iced “Green Tea” does/maybe contain some tea it is not even enough to provide color to the drink which also requires “plant extracts” (A reference to the papaya and passion fruit no doubt.) for “[color].” On your website I also learned the Iced “Green Tea” contains almost five teaspoons of sugar per 16 ounces.

Putting all of this information together it seems to me your Iced “Green Tea” is more of a juice than anything else. Labeling your drink as Iced “Green Tea” as such is misleading at best and dangerous to diabetics at worst. For a company who’s mission statement includes, “We are a simple pleasure, honest in genuine” the Iced “Green Tea” is not honest, nor genuine.

Although I know some readers of this blog are avid Panera fans, I found the place to be shrowded in fake freshness and communal concern. The "Green Tea" was and is a fitting example of this unatrual naturalness. We'll see what comes of it if anything. Taking the time to write things complaining about other things is the epitome of an unproductivity.

Yours in complaints,