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A popular restaurant chain grabbed four of the top 10 spots in a recent Consumer Reports fast-food breakfast item ranking — with its avocado, egg white and spinach sandwich winning first place and edging out items from major chains like McDonald’s and Starbucks.
Panera Bread’s avocado, egg white and spinach sandwich is served on a sprouted grain bagel flat and costs $5.
Containing egg whites, tomato slices, spinach, aged white cheddar cheese and avocado, the sandwich clocks in at 410 calories and 21 grams of protein, according to Consumer Reports.
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The organization gave the sandwich an overall score of 75, a four out of five nutrition score and a five out of five sensory score, which is based on flavor and texture attributes.
Fox News Digital reached out to Panera Bread, headquartered in Fenton, Missouri, for comment.
A Panera Bread breakfast sandwich, shown on the left and featuring egg whites, tomato slices, avocado and more, has beat out major chains to take the top spot in a Consumer Reports fast-food breakfast ranking. (Panera Bread; iStock)
While McDonald’s made the list, other fast-food empires like Wendy’s and Burger King were left behind.
McDonald’s Egg White Delight earned the 13th spot in the ranking with an overall score of 66, while its Egg McMuffin was ranked 19th with a score of 64.
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Two other Panera items won second and third place in the ranking: a steel-cut oatmeal with strawberries and pecans, and another oatmeal with almonds, quinoa and honey.
Other chains such as Jamba Juice and Au Bon Pain were represented on the list, with Jamba Juice’s oatmeal with strawberries and brown sugar crumble earning fourth place.
A recent Consumer Reports fast-food breakfast ranking includes a number of items from top chains. (iStock)
Dunkin’ earned spots in the ranking as well, with items including the whole grain oatmeal with dried fruit and the veggie egg white on an English muffin.
Panera’s Greek yogurt with mixed berries was also listed, and the chain’s ham, egg and cheese on whole-grain bread was one spot ahead of the McDonald’s Egg McMuffin.
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A few Starbucks menu items made the cut as well, such as the red pepper sous vide egg white bites, the spinach, feta and egg white wrap and a berry yogurt parfait.
Panera customers on Reddit were somewhat divided in their opinions about the spinach, avocado and egg white sandwich.
One criticism that surfaced was the amount of avocado.
Besides Panera, chains included in the recent Consumer Reports ranking were Starbucks, McDonald’s, Jamba Juice, Au Bon Pain and Dunkin’. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group)
“It had to have been less than 1/8th of an avocado,” a Reddit user said in a thread about Panera Bread. “When I say I got one chunk, it was literally like one slice that you can see in the advertisement pic.”
Another person claimed to have been ordering the sandwich for a while, but felt it’s not quite what it used to be.
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“I’ve been a loyal fan of this breakfast sandwich and have probably ordered it at least 50 times now, as a ‘treat’ for breakfast. I’ve seen a steady decrease in quality, and the last time I ordered it the bread was so thin and sad,” the person wrote.
“Ah, yes, my favorite breakfast sandwich,” said a fan of the menu item.
Founded in 1987 by Ken Rosenthal, Panera Bread was originally known as the St. Louis Bread Company. (iStock)
“I hope they never get rid of this,” said another individual.
Other people on social media shared a variety of different opinions.
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“I’m happy with just a Sausage McMuffin,” wrote one man on Facebook.
“For me personally, the best breakfast sandwich is the McDonald’s Sausage Biscuit, then after that would be the Chic-fil-A Chicken Biscuit!” said another person.