Subway’s tuna sandwiches found to contain no tuna fish DNA, lab tests find following lawsuit

[mystery-ak]

Subway’s tuna sandwiches found to contain no tuna fish DNA, lab tests find following lawsuit
New York Times report had 60 inches of Subway tuna tested at lab and found 'no amplifiable tuna DNA was present'

   
By Jeanette Settembre FOXBusiness

Subway is on the hook for its tuna once again after a lab report found there’s no actual tuna DNA in its sandwiches and wraps.

The New York Times had 60 inches of Subway tuna sandwiches from three different restaurants in Los Angeles lab tested after the chain was accused in a lawsuit reported earlier this year, alleging the fish is made from "a mixture of various concoctions," first reported by the Washington Post.



The tuna was frozen and sent out to the lab, which determined "no amplifiable tuna DNA was present in the sample and so we obtained no amplification products from the DNA. Therefore, we cannot identify the species," according to the Times.

The lab conducted a PCR test to see if Subway’s tuna featured one of five varying tuna species, the New York Times reported, explaining there are 15 species of fish that can be labeled tuna, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Seafood List.

The lab determined two potential reasons why no tuna was detected in the sample, saying, "One it’s so heavily processed that whatever we could pull out, we couldn’t make an identification … Or we got some and there’s just nothing there that’s tuna," the newspaper noted.

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https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/lab-tests-no-tuna-subway-sandwiches

[catfish1957]

Wonder what the mystery meat was.  In any case this is a big corporate reputation hit for a company that I thought prided itself of freshness, and cleanness.

[PeteS in CA]

So, it could be "tuna" that is too heavily processed (including freezing it prior to being tested) to be identifiable. Or it could be "tuna" of one of the 10 species for which the "tuna salad" samples were not tested. Or it could be something other than "tuna". And after one wades through those possibilities, one comes to another key question, did Subway defraud or was Subway defrauded by a supplier?

IMO, those suing Subway would have a better chance if they could identify the actual species in the samples and if, through discovery, they could find and provide evidence that Subway knew it was selling something other than tuna as tuna.

FWIW, I'm a Subway non-fan. Their sandwiches are, IMO, mediocre, and Togos (a regional chain that started in San Jose) is far better.

[catfish1957]

FWIW, I'm a Subway non-fan. Their sandwiches are, IMO, mediocre, and Togos (a regional chain that started in San Jose) is far better.

Same pretty much opinion.  However, my first job out of college with the Health Dept. inspecting restaurants among many other things.  Funny how that job put things in perspective, and things you might not like to hear about. 

Though mediocre, it is the one place that you can see and watch your sandwich being prepared. Plus, they get good marks in sanitation and cleanliness in the food prep area.   That means more to me than most people.

[Bigun]

Took one bite of a Subway tuna sandwich and knew immediately it wasn't tuna.  I asked for, and received, a refund. Haven't been in a Subway sandwich shop since.

[goatprairie]

The wife and I used to periodically get their steak sandwiches which were decent. But ever since they signed Megan Rapping-ho to do ads for them, no way.

[Wingnut]

Sorry Charlie, Subway doesn't want tuna that tastes great.

[GtHawk]

Same pretty much opinion.  However, my first job out of college with the Health Dept. inspecting restaurants among many other things.  Funny how that job put things in perspective, and things you might not like to hear about. 

Though mediocre, it is the one place that you can see and watch your sandwich being prepared. Plus, they get good marks in sanitation and cleanliness in the food prep area.   That means more to me than most people.

Like any chain experiences vary at different locations and different franchisees. What ended Subway for me was a manager picking carboard and papers off the floor throwing them in the trash and then turning to me and asking what I'd like while pulling the wrapper out and picking up a knife. He never washed his hands and had no idea what was wrong or why I was upset even though I told him. He did get upset though when I explained to to all the potential customers wait behind me. There are bad apples in every barrel and it's up to the consumer to be ware. Not every health inspector is experienced or as vigilant as I'm sure you were, I ran into good and bad in my 25 years in food service.

[thackney]

Wonder what the mystery meat was.  In any case this is a big corporate reputation hit for a company that I thought prided itself of freshness, and cleanness.

Do you remember when a few years back the bread was made with plastic materials?

Subway restaurants to remove foamed plastics ingredient from bread
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mo-subway-to-remove-foamed-plastics-ingredient-from-its-bread-20140206-story.html
FEB. 6, 2014

[PeteS in CA]

  Freshly made bread made on premises was Subway's big selling point.

IMO, their deli meats are second- or third-rate. OTOH, I love Togos' #23 (salami & cheese of choice), #10 (pastrami ruben), and #16 (mortadella, capicola, salami, ham, and provolone).

[mountaineer]

During my food service days, one of my tasks was to make up a big batch of tuna salad for sandwiches. First ingredient was large cans of name-brand tuna - Starkist, or something similar. I just assumed Subway went about it the same way. 

[PeteS in CA]

During my food service days, one of my tasks was to make up a big batch of tuna salad for sandwiches. First ingredient was large cans of name-brand tuna - Starkist, or something similar. I just assumed Subway went about it the same way. 

On days you used "Chicken of the Sea" brand tuna was it called a "Surf & Turf Sandwich"?

[catfish1957]

Like any chain experiences vary at different locations and different franchisees. What ended Subway for me was a manager picking carboard and papers off the floor throwing them in the trash and then turning to me and asking what I'd like while pulling the wrapper out and picking up a knife. He never washed his hands and had no idea what was wrong or why I was upset even though I told him. He did get upset though when I explained to to all the potential customers wait behind me. There are bad apples in every barrel and it's up to the consumer to be ware. Not every health inspector is experienced or as vigilant as I'm sure you were, I ran into good and bad in my 25 years in food service.

I did that gig for only a year before moving on to industry, but saw a few hundred restaurants, and it did give me an interesting perspective of the level of sanitatiion at these places.  An example?  Even to this day, I can walk into a restaurant and based on a smell tell you whether a place has a roach or a rodent infestation. There are other tell tale smells and signs to that can tell a lot about them behind the scenes.

[PeteS in CA]

Subway is claiming the DNA testing is an invalid test method, https://www.cnet.com/how-to/subway-tuna-sandwich-dna-results-the-controversy-explained/ :

Subway also noted that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit have backed off the claim somewhat: "Even the plaintiffs have softened their original claims. In a new filing from June, their complaints centered not on whether Subway's tuna was tuna at all, but whether it was '100% sustainably caught skipjack and yellowfin tuna,' the statement read.

 In addition, the company took issue with the idea of DNA testing. "DNA testing is simply not a reliable way to identify denatured proteins, like Subway's tuna, which was cooked before it was tested," the statement said.