There’s some fish in Subway’s tuna sandwiches and salad dressings, but the menu items don’t include any real fish, according to a lawsuit filed in the fast food chain.
According to the complaint, what Subway charges as tuna is a “mixture of various preparations which do not constitute tuna, but have been mixed by the defendants to mimic the appearance of tuna”.
Filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of two California residents, Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin, the lawsuit alleges that the two “were tricked into buying food that did not have all the ingredients they needed.” they reasonably believed they were buying them, “based on its labeling.
‘Consumers are constantly misled as regards the purchase of products for the known benefits and characteristics and / or advertising of tuna when, in fact, such benefits could not be obtained, given that the products are in fact, without tone “, the process claims.
“Performing tests”
Alex Brown, a lawyer for the law firm Lanier, which represents Dhanowa and Amin in this case, said he was trying to determine what ingredients are used in the Subway tone. “We’re conducting tests to find out what it is. Lab tests so far have only told us what it’s not,” he said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch.
A company spokesman denied the allegations in the lawsuit. “There is simply no truth in the allegations in the California lawsuit,” Global PR director Maggie Truax said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch. and used in freshly made sandwiches, wraps and salads that are served and enjoyed by our guests. “
According to the company’s website, the tuna salad in the chain’s sandwiches is made with tuna flakes in brine, mayonnaise and an additive that protects the flavor.
“Unfortunately, this trial is part of a trend in which the lawyers of the named applicants have targeted the food industry in an effort to make a name for themselves in this space,” Truax said.
If certified as a class action, the suit could represent thousands of Subway customers who bought sandwiches or tuna casings after January 21, 2017, in California, where it has 2,266 locations.
The lawsuit is not the first legal dispute that has raised questions about Subway products. Supreme Court of Ireland in September he led that the bread used by Subway in its sandwiches could not be legally called bread because of its high sugar content. And in 2017, an appellate court eliminated a class action settlement on the chain’s “long-term subs” claims. a shy inch of the promoted length.