Lawsuit Alleges Subway’s Tuna Salad Doesn’t Contain Any Actual Tuna
The sandwich chain denies the plaintiffs’ claims.
The following written content by Jelisa Castrodale
Connecticut-based sandwich chain Subway is facing yet another lawsuit over its ingredients, one alleging that the tuna salad used in its sandwiches and wraps doesn’t contain any actual tuna.
According to the Washington Post, the lawsuit claims that Subway’s tuna is “made from anything but tuna.” An attorney representing one of the two plaintiffs says that samples of the fish were collected from sandwiches purchased at multiple Subway locations in California and submitted for independent laboratory testing.
The attorney declined to discuss the exact results of the tests with the Post, beyond saying that it was “not tuna” and “not fish.” The legal filing alleges that the sandwich topping is “a mixture of various concoctions that do not constitute tuna, yet have been blended together by defendants to imitate the appearance of tuna.”
The plaintiffs, identified as Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin, are suing Subway for fraud, intentional misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. “Defendants have engaged in economic adulteration by selling a food product that partially or wholly lacked the valuable constituents of tuna, and that had been substituted in part or whole,” their lawsuit reads. “Defendants have further committed unlawful adulteration by concealing the inferiority of the Products.”
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Subway has denied the claim, telling Food & Wine, “There simply is no truth to the allegations in the complaint that was filed in California. Subway delivers 100 [percent] cooked tuna to its restaurants, which is mixed with mayonnaise and used in freshly made sandwiches, wraps and salads that are served to and enjoyed by our guests. The taste and quality of our tuna make it one of Subway’s most popular products and these baseless accusations threaten to damage our franchisees, small business owners who work tirelessly to uphold the high standards that Subway sets for all of its products, including its tuna. Given the facts, the lawsuit constitutes a reckless and improper attack on Subway’s brand and goodwill, and on the livelihood of its California franchisees. Indeed, there is no basis in law or fact for the plaintiffs’ claims, which are frivolous and are being pursued without adequate investigation.”
This isn’t the first time that the composition of Subway’s meats has been challenged. In 2017, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) Marketplace program DNA-tested pieces of chicken taken from five different fast food restaurants. When the results came back, Subway’s oven roasted chicken contained 53.6 percent chicken DNA, and its chicken strips were only 42.8 percent chicken. (The samples from the other four restaurants contained between 88.5 and 89.4 percent chicken DNA.). Read more from Food & Wine.
