You've probably heard the recent announcement that Panera plans to remove artificial ingredients from its food. But it comes among a plethora of other companies who have also vowed to remove additives, preservatives and other so-called "bad" ingredients from their recipes.

Tyson Foods Inc. on April 28 said it would eliminate the use of human antibiotics in its chicken flocks by September 2017. This move by Tyson — which is a big supplier of chicken to McDonald's — will help the fast food giant with its recently announced plan to stop buying chicken with antibiotics in the next two years.

The company has already stopped using antibiotics in its 35 broiler hatcheries and has reduced the use of human antibiotics on its broiler chickens by 80 percent in the last four years. Tyson is making the change to address the global health concerns of antibiotic-resistant infections, company CEO Donnie Smith said in a statement.

And of course there's Panera Bread. The trendy casual eatery, which operates more than 1,900 bakery-cafes throughout the U.S. and Canada, announced May 5 that it will drop artificial ingredients or preservatives from 150 of its menu items by the end of next year. That includes everything from its bakery to soups, salads and sandwiches.

Panera says it's the first national chain to publicly share a comprehensive "No-No List" of ingredients it will drop from its foods, according to a company statement.

So are these companies' menu changes really about improving public health — or is it simply good business sense?

Neva Cochran, a Dallas-based registered dietician and nutrition communications consultant, says most of their decisions are likely based on marketing to consumers, not nutrition. She noted that all ingredients used in restaurants' food have to be approved by the FDA.

"Just because you can't pronounce it doesn't mean it is not safe," she said. "I don't believe people are putting things into food for no reason."

Removing a "difficult to pronounce" ingredient from food probably won't magically make food more nutritious, Cochran said. Rather, these "functional" ingredients may help keep up the food's appearance or serve some other purpose.

"By doing this, restaurants perpetuate that there's something wrong with these ingredients when there really isn't," she said.

Cochran believes a focus on improving consumers' overall diets would be a better place to start.

"I give credit to restaurants that they're trying to appeal to consumers and trying to appear that their foods are healthier, but some of them are doing it the wrong way," she said. "I would like to see them offering more fruits and vegetables."

Mary Chapman, senior director of product innovation at Technomic, a food industry consulting firm, told the Los Angeles Times that the companies' moves are indeed a response to consumers.

"There are more and more consumers who want to know what's in their food and are really concerned about things like GMOs and antibiotics," she said.

Which other companies have joined the effort in removing artificial ingredients from food? Here's a quick rundown.

Pepsi: PepsiCo on April 24 said that in response to customers, it is removing the artificial sweetener aspartame from Diet Pepsi, replacing the ingredient with sucralose, also known as Splenda. The reformulated drink will hit the shelves in August.

Chipotle: The burrito chain finished removing GMOs from its foods, a process it began two years ago. A GMO crop is one that has been genetically engineered to resist pests and other environmental stresses. While critics of GMOs say they can harm human health, many genetically modified crops have been approved by the FDA.

Nestle: Nestle USA announced in February that by the end of the year it will eliminate artificial flavors and FDA-certified colors from all of its chocolate candy, which includes more than 250 products and 10 brands.

Kraft: Kraft Foods is dropping preservatives and synthetic colors from its macaroni and cheese meal, the company announced April 20. Kraft will implement the change in early 2016 after three years of research. A Change.org petition that started in March asking Kraft to remove artificial dyes from the product received more than 365,000 signatures.