The Bizarre Way Subway Responded To Its Tuna Court Ruling
The debate over the authenticity of Subway's tuna has gotten fishy indeed. The ordeal started back in January 2021 when two plaintiffs, Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin, filed suit against the sandwich giant alleging the tuna the restaurant serves is not in fact tuna. Instead, they contended that it's "made from anything but tuna," a claim allegedly confirmed by independent lab tests, according to the complaint (via The Washington Post).
NBC reports that the tests were conducted at a marine biology lab at UCLA. At the time, Subway clapped back. Katia Noll, senior director for global safety and quality, provided a statement to The Washington Post: "Tuna is one of our most popular sandwiches. Our restaurants receive pure tuna, mix it with mayonnaise and serve on a freshly made sandwich to our guests."
On July 7, 2022, the plot thickened when federal Judge Jon Tigar of the United States District Court ruled that a lawsuit against Subway for claiming its tuna is made with "100% tuna" is permissible (via TODAY). Subway's response, however, was a bit, well, bizarre.
Subway blames cross-contamination for potential non-tuna
According to NBC, after hearing that the legitimacy of its tuna could be challenged in court Subway claimed that if any non-tuna products are detected in its tuna sandwiches, it is a result of cross-contamination that occurred while assembling the sandwiches. Subway is not backing down and maintains its tuna is wild-caught. A spokesperson provided TODAY with a statement: "Subway serves 100% tuna. We are disappointed the Court felt it couldn't dismiss the plaintiffs' reckless and improper lawsuit at this stage. However, we are confident that Subway will prevail when the Court has an opportunity to consider all the evidence."
Over on Twitter, users commented on the judge's decision. Ann Lipton tweeted that "a great mystery is about to be solved," while the comically named "Please, you wore a jean vest" worried about what might actually be in those fish subs if not tuna: "So if the tuna at subway isn't fish... THEN [WHAT] IS IT?" However, a third user voiced their loyalty to the brand, commenting, "I don't care what is in the subway tuna, put some banana peppers and cheese on it and I'll eat it off some cardboard I found on the sidewalk."