The sandwich chain, Subway, is going to need to redirect a ton of its profit margin to a marketing campaign to clean up its reputation. That is, if it has any money left over from all the lawsuits. First they were sued in Chicago for shorting their customers a full inch on their foot-long sandwiches. Then an Irish court ruled what they serve their product on cannot legally be called bread. Now they’re being sued in California because their tuna sandwich allegedly doesn’t offer any tuna. And I don’t mean somebody got miffed that they didn’t get enough meat mixed with their mayo, I mean they are claiming Subway is not serving any tuna in their famous tuna salad. What’s worse, the lawsuit said there is no fish in the tuna fish salad at all.
Subway describes its tuna sandwich as “freshly baked bread” layered with “flaked tuna blended with creamy mayo then topped with your choice of crisp, fresh veggies.” It’s a description designed to activate the saliva glands — and separate you from your money.
It’s also fiction, at least partially, according to a recent lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint alleges the ingredient billed as “tuna” for the chain’s sandwiches and wraps contains absolutely no tuna.
A representative of Subway said the claims are without merit. Not only is its tuna the real deal, the company says, but it’s wild-caught, too.
The star ingredient, according to the lawsuit, is “made from anything but tuna.” Based on independent lab tests of “multiple samples” taken from Subway locations in California, the “tuna” is “a mixture of various concoctions that do not constitute tuna, yet have been blended together by defendants to imitate the appearance of tuna,” according to the complaint. Shalini Dogra, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, declined to say exactly what ingredients the lab tests revealed.
“We found that the ingredients were not tuna and not fish,” the attorney said in an email to The Washington Post.
The two plaintiffs, Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin, are hoping the case becomes a class action lawsuit, which will open this suit up to anyone in California who purchased a tuna sandwich or wrap after January 21, 2017. So far, Subway is flat out denying the accusation. They say they send pure tuna to their restaurants who mix the tuna with mayo per the chain’s recipe and there you have it. But the plaintiffs say they’ve had samples tested. The article says multiple samples but does not say multiple locations, so I wonder how many got targeted. I don’t know where to come down on this. I love Subway, we eat there all the time. My brother agrees with Ireland about the bread and refuses to eat their sandwiches, but I guess I’m trashy. I do not eat their tuna though. I don’t like tuna. But my husband loves their tuna salad. What caught my attention, though, is the article states the plaintiffs, “argue they paid premium prices for an ingredient that they prize for its health benefits.” Subway’s tuna salad is one of their worst nutritional sandwiches they offer, that’s why my husband has had to lay off them. I kind of wish they had mentioned what, exactly, those labs had found in their testing. If it wasn’t fish, what was it?
I’ll be interested to see if this lawsuit has any legs. The Chicago “where’s my last inch” settlement got thrown out, but hopefully Subway corrected the issue. It feels like if this one has any merit, it would be easy enough to prove. I cannot imagine what would be cheaper than tuna to use, though. Scratch that, I don’t want to know. I guess I’m a little defensive about Subway because my kids fell for it and it became an alternative to burgers. It made me feel slightly better about myself as a mom. It was also the first fast food place close enough they could walk to by themselves, and they felt so grown up going to grab themselves lunch. There are much better sandwich places out there, yes. But I guess I just don’t want my kids’ childhood memories to be tarred with a rat salad brush, so I really want this to be false.
Photo credit: Instagram
Tuna is pretty much all i ever order if i venture into a Subway so Yuck. And yes i know what do you expect from a fast food chain,but Subway is suppose to be a healthier and more transparent option than say Mcds.
It could be a local issue or Subway has just changed since you were there. Vegan versions of meat and fish can be hard to distinguish, but I would expect regular tuna from real tuna fish would be cheaper. Maybe it’s made from some other animal.
I wonder, if it was only samples collected from one location, if it’s THAT location only…like, maybe the franchise owner sells the tuna to a neighboring restaurant and uses something else for the sandwiches.
not unlike one bar watering down their liquor bottles or drinks.
but I also seem to remember them being busted for their “chicken” breasts not being made out of chicken.
I haven’t eaten there in a LONG time, since I found out they continued to employ Jared even after they knew he was an alleged pedophile, but when I did it was strictly a veggie sub.
I dont go to subway anymore because with th epandemic I want to make my own sandwich – but tuna was the one I ordered 🙁
I worked for Subway from high school and into law school. To make the tuna, we had to mix giant cans of tuna with mayo. I don’t believe this claim.
I worked there in high school, around ~2004, and by then (at least in our stores) it came in giant pouches that said “100% tuna” on the side. They could have been lying about what was in the package though I guess. And then we just put gloves on and mixed it with however much full fat mayo looked like the best consistency, so of course it was delicious and salty and terrible for you. I still get it sometimes when I’m hungover so I’m kind of hoping this is a bunk lawsuit.
Yup, I remember we had the big silver packets of tuna too. Pretty sure this is all bunk.
Thank you for sharing this. My mother loved their tuna subs. When we were waiting for an ambulance to take her to the hospital, she sweetly looked up at me and asked if she could have a (subway) tuna sandwich.
I bought many tuna subs for her, and every one had a distinctive tuna scent. Maybe something changed after that, since they mention sandwiches purchased after 2017.
I only worked there for one day before I quit, but what stands out in my memory is that we had 2 kinds of mayo, regular and low fat, but really it was the same mayo in both squeeze containers. So I’m not surprised they cut corners.
The 2017 date relates to the look back period for class action claims
I also worked at Subway when I was a teenager and we also had to mix it ourselves using cans or bags of tuna fish.
I am highly skeptical of this claim.
Thank you, for this. I have only ordered tuna at Subway.
My son works at Subway. He said this is a load of crap. They get pouch of wild caught tuna and mix it with mayo.
I get vegetarian sandwiches at Subway and have for about 20 years. I don’t eat tuna or meat, but this is still a really gross story. But maybe the tuna is actually veggies? There is a Buffy episode kind of like that. The double meat palace episode. There are a lot of gross possibilities played out, but in the end, the double meat burgers are basically Impossible burgers.
I honestly love their veggie sandwiches.
that’s all I’d ever eat there, too, when I did eat there.
@Darla, I’m here for the Buffy shoutout. I’m currently rewatching the series and am on season 7, which is terrible but I made it this far.
I rewatched it during the initial lockdown here in NY. I still love it even though I see all its problems now. And yes i really disliked season 7, though I thought Spike made it worth watching.
Ha, I rewatched Buffy over Xmas.
I was going to post the same thing.
🙂
I thought of “Doublemeat Palace” too. 😂
I’m scared to find out what it is if not tuna.
I like tuna salad and I LOVE chicken salad on sandwiches, but I never order either at Subway – sweet onion chicken teriyaki all the way for me. I dont really like ordering mayo-based salads at places where it sits out like that.
I haven’t eaten at Subway in a long time (I used to get their turkey subs, or sometimes the roast beef) but I am so intrigued by this…if it’s not tuna or any other fish, then what is it??? I need to know! LOL.
combination soy product and possibily chicken or turkey? i can’t eat soy so I never get anything that doesn’t look like the real thing (e.g., a fish fillet or chicken breast). i just don’t trust restaurants!
I never liked eating there as I always thought the stores smelled odd & every single one, no matter where it was (VA, NY, FL) they smelled exactly the same.
In Canada, a news station did an investigative look into subway sandwhiches and found the chicken meat (the thing they claim was a 100% chicken breast) actually had plant soy protein in it. Caused a scandal here and ever since I really avoid subway when possible. Just seems like they are always in the news
It’s was CBC marketplace and they checked the DNA. Not sure accuracy etc but still always out me off eating at subway
Really! So it is the double meat palace. That episode is from the early aughts. How funny.
I remember that! LOL.
If this isn’t tuna…what is it? WHAT IS IT?
(It’s probably tuna).
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@bee, it’s funny you say that because in a linguistics course I teach, we talk about Subway’s “chicken” claim and how word choice plays into the ruse. The claim is that the chicken patty is “made WITH 100% chicken”, not OF 100% chicken. We hear WITH and naturally assume the second phrase. It’s intentionally worded that way to be misleading.
And what about when they were busted using the same chemicals they use in yoga mats in their buns? Apparently it made them look fluffier or something. I stopped eating there after that.
I hate to tell you this, but that particular chemical is used in basically all mass produced bread. Also, shellac is a chemical mixture used to make your jellybeans (and all other candies) look all shiny, and is also used as wood varnish. There are oodles of food-safe chemicals and chemical mixtures that are also used for a wide variety of non-food things. Like beeswax, and sugar, and salt.
I wonder how many restaurants substitute non meat for fish or real meat. I don’t know about Subway. I’ve ordered the tuna a few times. It seemed like tuna to me but who knows. I tend not to believe this claim.
On the other hand last year before I left Southern California, I ordered a chicken dish from a Chinese restaurant. I could not eat it and I’m not a picky eater. It tasted very off, very strange. The chicken meat also had a strange texture. I mentioned this to someone and they said there’s a rumor that many Chinese restaurants are using baby mice in place of chicken. Never again am I eating a chicken dish at a Chinese restaurant. I know it sounds crazy but I just need to be sure and I can’t, so that’s that.
That’s ridiculous. It sounds like a xenophobic variation on the accusation that chinese food is cats or dogs only even less plausible. Why would small business owners risk their livelihoods lying about the food they are serving the public when you can get very cheap factory farmed chicken, or even cheaper chicken mixed with soy protein a la subway’s chicken sandwiches. Imagine the work involved in skinning and deboning a baby mouse for a tiny bit of meat and the scale you’d have to do it on to provide enough “chicken” to restaurants wholesale.
Im in southern california
My favorite Chinese restaurant got closed because they were serving dog :p
it happens
I’m with Kate. There’s a lot of ways to eff up chicken–in the cooking process, usually, which affects texture and taste both. I’ve had a lot of crappy chicken in a lot of different kinds of restaurants over the years, and that’s down to the individual kitchens, owner’s greed, and “chef” tastebuds.
I would assume that it was overmarinated chicken, not mice (baby or otherwise) for the reasons other posters already gave. Protein can take on a strange texture and flavor if it’s in contact with acidic ingredients or other things used to tenderize it for too long. I’ve had weird-textured chicken at some Chinese restaurants too, but I’m not going to stop eating Asian or Chinese food altogether. I just avoid the places that have food I don’t like.
It was much more likely to be chicken that was just barely turning bad, or chicken with freezer burn, or chicken that had been re-frozen and thawed and re-frozen too many times. Seriously, freezer games with meat can do weird shit, way before it gets even close to spoiling.
I used to work at an agency that had Wawa as a client. Wawa is an east coast convenience store which crazily enough has delicious sandwiches, and their purchasing guy would go on and on about how Subway bought the cheapest meat possible and pretended like it was such high quality. He was so indignant about it I never had another Subway again.
I freaking love Wawa!
There was a Wawa just down the street from where I lived during college. It was a life-saver. No Wawa in Texas, though, so I haven’t been into one in years and years.
WAWA IS LIFE.
I have a Wawa hoagie waiting for me to eat for lunch right now! They are the best.
I’ve never liked Subway for some reason. I’ve had it on and off throughout the years, but it’s always sort of a last resort.
WAWA is THE BEST.
Irish person here and I have to say, one of things that I found the hardest about living in the US was how difficult it was to get really good bread. I couldn’t believe how *sweet* it was, so it made sense to me that subway ‘bread ‘ was classified as cake here.
When I was in Ireland on a bus tour of Slea Head/Inch Beach/Dingle, we stopped in Killarney and I had a chicken salad sandwich from a little deli there that was probably the best sandwich I have ever had in my life. The bread was thick and so soft and tasted amazing. I hope to go back one day and have it again. #postpandemicgoals.
I had the most amazing baby carrots in Dublin as well as the creamiest yogurt. Yogurt here is too sweet now and the carrots are bland. My friend from Galway always said that the vegetables tasted earthier her to her in Ireland and I didn’t know what she was talking about until I went there!
I worked there 20 years ago. Whatever it is, it comes in giant cans marked TUNA. And it looks, smells, and tastes identical to tuna.
Sometimes seitan, gluten protein, is used to form fake seafood such as scallops or crabmeat. That’s dangerous for the gluten intolerant, including people with celiac disease.
US bread has been getting sweeter due to shifting population tastes.
Aren’t most California rolls and other sushi rolls with “crab” in them really made out of imitation crab?
Yes, it’s “krab”. Unless it is really crab, at which point you pay a hefty fee for that ingredient.
I thought imitation crab, like crab sticks were at least made of flavoured white fish bits? If they say the tuna is not even made of cheap white fish flakes, that is the strange bit
I read the WaPo piece yesterday and was left with the impression that if this happened it was limited to a specific, rogue location. I also found it suspect that they wouldn’t release what their analysis of the supposedly fake tuna revealed. Seems to me like someone litigious is looking to make some big bucks, but who knows.
I once had a mom tell me that her son told her that my son, they were probably in second grade, brought Subway sandwiches for lunch every day. She was like “how/why can you do that?” I laughed and told her I used sub buns from the deli section of the grocery store for my son’s sandwiches instead of bread. I would have assumed that the foil wrapping would have given them away as homemade but I guess not.
My mom would occasionally make sub sandwiches for my lunch and my classmates were shocked that I had a fancy sandwich. I’m 48 so this was long before Subway. It was a really big deal to kids to see something different. Mom used to give me a thermos with hot food sometimes so they were intrigued by that too. Sometimes it was soup or beef stew or maybe Chef Boyardee or a Franco American product. Whatever she knew I would like. She was tickled that the kids made such a big deal about it.
Well, I worked there as a teenager in the 1990s and I can assure you, it certainly smells like tuna.
If true , would be a problem for people with allergies to whatever really is in it. Hope it’s just soy or wheat gluten but people can be allergic or highly sensitive to those also.
The Irish decision about subway bread is just about the sugar content. I’m surprised they didn’t change the recipe for Irish tastes. It’s called localizing, even McDonald’s does it.
Many American foods have ridiculous amounts of sugar that no rational person would expect in such food. Taste buds are different elsewhere.
One of the Plaintiff’s is ‘Karen’. ‘Nuff said.
In any event, it looks like cat food, but I don’t doubt they use cheap tuna.
Right, everyone with the name Karen is the devil, totally makes sense.
Subway bread used to be tastier… maybe 20 years ago or so? But the mayo still can’t beat! I am a vegetarian and I am sure it won’t be long before they try to dilute veggies to save some coin.
@ WELLSIEISCOOL Dukes Mayonnaise is the brand that Subway uses.
If they were willing to use the same chemical used to make YOGA MATS in their bread, I would not be surprised if the tuna was something other than tuna.
It is a mayonnaisey nightmare, whatever it is.
Um, that particular bread conditioner is used in basically ALL mass produced bread made in the US. There are lots of things safe for use in food that also have loads of non-food uses. Beeswax, salt, shellac, wheat, corn…
What the hell is it if it isn’t tuna? And I feel for the lab people doing DNA testing on a sandwich. “Tuna you are NOT the father!”
They need to just say all their meat and bread is soylent green
Pretty much. Just the LOOK of the “meat” in the case is enough to make me back away. I feel like the quality was better a decade ago? As with many places.
ha! I don’t like sandwiches all that much, but gave Subway a try a few years ago because it was convenient. I lost my appetite when the guy scooped out the chicken with a plastic shovel that looked like what you’d use to build a sand castle! That plastic shovel was just so disgusting to me. Why don’t they use stainless steel spoons???
They can’t, somebody else is already selling ‘Soylent’ brand meal replacement shakes.
Also, they have a mint chocolate flavor, guess what color that packaging is.
Shout out to Brookhaven, a community college here in Dallas, whose paper Hecate used as the citation to the Irish story. That was cool to see.
I don’t believe the tuna story – way too many compliance concerns for them to take that kind of risk.
I don’t eat Subway, but when I’m with people who do, I always wish I’d brought my little tape measure, because I’ve long suspected that the foot-longs are not a foot long. This story doesn’t surprise me. Companies like this are always looking to save a buck and maximise profits. It reminds me of when McDonalds were busted for making their hot “apple” pies with chokoes. Do you have those in America? I avoid these places.
What is a chokoe?
Apparently that is an urban legend. In googling “choko” it says it can be used in recipes to make apples go further, but there is no truth that McDonald’s used them in their pies.
@Ann – It looks like it’s a fruit from the gourd family. It’s called Chayote in the US and used in Cajun and Creole recipes.
I think they confirmed this a while back… that the ‘footlong’ was a term for their bread, not a measurement.. haha a scam!
Choko was a flavourless veggie that had a similar consistency to baked apples, I think. They were then flavoured with that thick appley goop and made into ‘apple pies’, ALLEGEDLY. Hehe
This must be a one off Subway owner trying to keep up with food costs. Their tuna is real tuna. (Two packages of tuna plus one bag of lt mayo mixed together… I never used light mayo-gross) I owned a subway (sold in 2016 thank gawd) and tuna, pepperoni and meatballs were the only meats I ate. Also, I hear a lot of people complain about their avocado…. also real and only avocado. (Took that expensive mess exactly 10 minutes to start turning brown I was actually written out of compliance for squeezing limes into the cambro pan to keep it fresh!) I could go on and on… sighhhhhhh
Imagine if women started suing for being shorted an inch, right?
😂😂😂. Not enough judges in the land to hear all the cases!
😂🤣😂🤣🤣🤣 or sued for all the times they were told it was just gonna be the tip!
Tuna is the only thing my children eat there and they love it and I’m definitely weirded out now. Also, I didn’t know about the bread.
Hmm, tuna is the only seafood I sometimes eat, but I only like it when it doesn’t taste too fishy. And I do like Subway tuna . . .
Oh good lord, if it’s not tuna, what is it then???!!! I would only get the tuna or veggie delight when traversing into Subway. Gross. On another note, is it weird that I am now craving a tuna sandwich now that we’re talking about fake tuna sandwiches?
I’ve never ordered tuna at Subway, but this reminds me of when I was younger and I LOVED my grandma’s “chicken” salad sandwiches. That’s the only thing I ever wanted to eat when we’d visit. Later in life I learned it was actually made with rabbit meat.
Gross! This story belongs next to that pink vomit food post from yesterday.
I’m not being a fast-food snob here, since I will happily eat a toasted Tim Horton’s everything bagel or a Harvey’s burger, and in Germany I have a major soft spot for NordSee fish joints, but Subway is the one place that makes me gag from the smell when I walk by. I have had a few of their subs over the years despite the weird rotting-chemical odor their shops give off (but I stay away from the cookies, because they absorb that stale smell and taste the way Subway smells, horf). Have not gone near one for years, and the Irish news about the bread a while back made me nod my head because how can folks not taste the additives in that stuff?
Rant over, I hate Subway, I hope they’re soon erased from the fast food matrix.
I wonder if it’s TVP. TVP can be made to look like a lot of meat-based things.
I haven’t eaten at a Subway in over 20 years. The food has a weird aftertaste for me. Kinda grossed me out.
Probably. I know Taco Bell uses it as “meat” in most of their offerings.
I couldn’t remember “TVP” so I googled Taco Bell meat. LOL
This is horrifying coming from an allergy point of view. How are we supposed to know what we are getting if companies do things like this?
Let me start by saying I’ve always loved Subway tuna sandwiches.
That said, I have a violent allergy to shellfish and it progressed into all seafood. Like, I touch the ocean and go into anaphylaxis. We called it Not Tuna for years because I could still eat it long after all other seafood was off limits to me. No reaction to it. Haven’t had one in 10 years just to avoid the possibility, but if it turned out to be TVP similar to Taco Bell (also yummy), I’d not be shocked.
In fact, if it does, I’m going directly out to have one right away. I miss them.
Yeah, that’s a hard no for me. Tasted Subway once and found it blech. 🙁 Just all around made me sick. And as far as mainstream food in the U.S., animal protein is largely toxic because of how animals are treated here. You can taste it in the chicken if you have ever lived somewhere where the chicken is fresh and lived relatively wild or at least on a good farm, running around the yard. No comparison. I’ve read that bleach is used to “clean” chicken and I believe it. I can taste it and I never order chicken anymore from anywhere, can’t remember the last time I tasted it, but even from my favorite restaurants, it just tastes nasty, unfresh, like the sauces are hiding something underneath.
Anyone notice that Subway has also been trying to not put many toppings on the sandwiches? I have to watch more closely now when they make my sub and say “can I have extra lettuce”, or “can you please add more onions” because I’d go home and practically bite into nothing. Oof. Sorry for you tuna fans.
I quit eating their tuna because the nutritional aspect pissed me off. Tuna should be the healthiest! And I’m going to agree with Ireland. I don’t like their bread lol. But I need to know what’s in that tuna.
I used to work at a Subway about 15 years ago here in Australia.. and back then it was a was two cans of tuna mixed with about TWO huge bags of Mayonaise. If anything, it’s the Mayo people should be complaining about!
I wonder if the tuna fish-like “meat” is actually vegan? New marketing opportunity. Beyond Fish.
I just saw their tweet about “wild caught tuna” and now I’m def weirded out.
It’s the only thing I eat there. I like that I can get spinach there which I can’t get at other sandwich places.
As some other people have commented – what in God’s name could it be, if it is not tuna?? Especially as some people have noted they worked at a Subway, and that is what it seemed to be, marked in cans as such??? LOL? And coming off 2020, the YEAR of Karen, I am highly skeptical of this! Seriously!
I don’t eat at Subway often, and don’t eat that, but that is my gut reaction.
Probably chicken with some tons of mayo to hide it. My coworker said the same thing.
Chicken is cheaper.
Brings back jessica Simpson memories. “Is this chicken or tuna?” Lol
Ha! I used to LOVE subway tuna sandwiches (with potato chips on them- don’t judge) but have developed a horrible fish allergy over the years. So….even though i’m doubtful….i’m kind of rooting for the not tuna to be a real thing
I’m kind of grossed out but I also think this is horrible-funny…
I’m a bit skeptical of this. Anyway, it tastes like tuna, maybe not high quality tuna but tuna nonetheless. It very mayonaissy and gloppy though.
Subway is trash, I haven’t eaten there in probably a decade. Their ingredients are just so obviously low quality. Bleh, that place just grossed me out so much.
Regarding to what people working/having worked there are saying: Of course the tuna would be delivered in cans labelled as tuna. If it is not tuna the whatever-it-is that is being used would be produced and packaged somewhere and from there on out identify as tuna. They would hardly put “protein soy mishmash” on the cans.
It is hard to believe, but I wouldn’t put it past Subway. I sometimes had sandwiches there ages ago in the UK. After the chain came to Germany – I think it was at the end of the Nineties, but not quite sure – I went to the one near me once or twice and it tasted so much like non-quality food that I have never set foot into one again since then. And I’m a sucker for tuna sandwich (although I am eating it very rarely these days, because most tuna is heavily overfished and usually you won’t know where the tuna comes from in a generic tuna sandwich).
Also this: There is a tv show on Germany where they check food and do quality tests and take a closer look at pre-processed stuff and they have a chef/chemist who sometimes recreates this using all kinds of odd and often artificial stuff. Not that you can verify the taste while watching tv, but he usually gets the look right. Generally speaking, looking at food labels it often seems you look at recipes for a chemical experiment rather than something that is supposed to be nutritious food. Is the non tuna claim true? No idea, but I am pretty sure it would not be a problem creating something that looks, smells, tastes and has the texture of tuna, but does not have one bit of tuna in it.
Depends on how you define ‘one bit’ of tuna, but soaking chicken or some other cheap trash fish in tuna…juices, I guess, that would do it. Just the same as they do with surimi (a.k.a. imitation crab). And if it’s precooked and shredded then texture wouldn’t be an issue with chicken.
I totally heard this in Linda Richman’s voice. “Discuss!”