Why Subway Is Demanding Its Tuna Sandwich Lawsuit Be Dismissed

When it comes to sandwiches, nothing beats the simplicity of a tuna sandwich. At its most basic form, it only takes two ingredients to make, just mayonnaise and tuna. At Subway, on the other hand, that's apparently not the case. According to customer claims that escalated into a full-blown investigation and lawsuit in January 2021, Subway's tuna sandwich allegedly may not contain tuna or even fish at all (via Washington Post). At other fast food chains, it probably wouldn't come as a surprise if you discovered that your favorite chicken nuggets weren't 100% chicken, but Subway's slogan is "Eat Fresh," and customers expect a certain quality of food — or at least the tuna sandwiches to actually contain tuna.

Despite the largely publicized lawsuit as well as one lab test that suggests Subway's tuna is "a mixture of various concoctions," Subway has continued to defend its sandwich ingredients to the hilt. In a recent commercial, Subway even reassures customers that the tuna it uses is 100% wild-caught tuna (via YouTube). Its attempt to squash the alleged rumors about the quality of its tuna, however, hasn't gone over smoothly, and with business already in decline, a lawsuit is bad news (via Eat This, Not That). Subway isn't going down without a fight, though.

From the public perspective, it might seem as though the evidence is stacked against Subway, but according to the sandwich franchise themselves, the plaintiffs made up the claim and forged the evidence to get money (via Restaurant Business). Instead of agreeing to a quick case settlement that would prevent the Subway slander from spreading any further, as of July, Subway instead is fighting back and demanding the lawsuit be dismissed entirely.

"The plaintiffs, and much more likely their attorneys, made these irresponsible claims with callous indifference not only to the facts but to the hard-working Subway franchisees around the world who have since suffered decreases in sales of one of their best-selling products because of press reports about the lawsuit and its sensational, and wholly meritless, claims," Subway recently stated in a plea to the court.

Unfortunately for Subway, the plaintiffs aren't backing down, though they have altered their claim to argue that Subway's tuna isn't skipjack tuna or yellowfin tuna. As Restaurant Business explains, this will unlikely hold up, since Subway doesn't advertise where its tuna is sourced from, but simply refers to it as "classic tuna." Regardless, there's still a risk of the judge ruling in favor of the plaintiffs. Subway has made it clear that they're willing to fight the case until the truth comes out.