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Papa John's CEO compares quality of food to Chipotle, Panera

In an open letter published in USA Today, Papa John shared how his company strives to live up to its quality promise of "Better Ingredients Better Pizza" for the past 30 years.

June 5, 2015

In an open letter published in USA Today, Papa John's CEO John Schnatter shared how his company strives to live up to its quality promise of "Better Ingredients Better Pizza" for the past 30 years by attempting to demonstrate it has 'put its money where its mouth is.' Many of the ingredients, according to Schnatter, have already been excluded from Papa John's pizza. In the letter, also issued as a press release, Papa John's founder and CEO stressed the company's committment to quality ingredients by listing key changes in the company's food, stating it contains:

• No trans-fats
• No MSG
• No fillers in our meat toppings
• No BHA
• No BHT
• No partially hydrogenated oils

"And we aren't alone," Schnatter said in the letter. "Chipotle recently announced that it would cook with non-GMO ingredients, and Panera Bread announced its 'no-no' list of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and preservatives it intends to remove from its menu by the end of 2016. In fact, 57 of the ingredients on its 'no-no' list are already out of Papa John's pizza."