Tuna Troubles at Subway^®

Why do people constantly crack jokes about the tuna from Subway^®? The answer lies in a bizarre journalistic investigation and a lawsuit with an incredible claim.

What in the Sandwich?!

In 2021, a California woman, Nilima Amin, filed a lawsuit against the sandwich-making chain Subway claiming the company had misled her and other consumers. Supporting her claim was a New York Times investigation that claimed to demonstrate that the tuna served by Subway was either so processed that it could not be identified as tuna on a DNA level ... or wasn't tuna at all.

Initially, Subway tried to have the lawsuit dismissed, and they were able to get Amin's co-plaintiff to drop the suit (there was no evidence he had ever actually purchased a tuna fish sandwich from Subway). However, according to NPR, the federal judge overseeing the case, Jon Tigar, decided to let the case proceed as some of the allegations raised by Amin "refer to ingredients that a reasonable consumer would not reasonably expect to find in a tuna product."

Subway Goes to the Mat for Its Tuna

For its part, Subway always maintained that Amin's lawsuit was frivolous and designed as a legal shakedown, filed with the hope the company would cave and pay up to cut off the negative press surrounding the case.

The chain emphasized that the kind of DNA test used by the New York Times investigation wouldn't be able to detect tuna DNA since the fish was cooked and processed, and that cross-contamination between ingredients was likely, given how Subway's "sandwich artists" make customers' orders. Subway even created a website, SubwayTunaFacts.com, to try to mitigate some of the unwelcome publicity.

Amin's case was dealt a significant blow when other studies conducted on Subway's tuna found the elusive DNA evidence that The New York Times missed: the tuna was and is indeed tuna.

The Conclusion

In 2023, Amin filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the suit, citing health issues due to a complicated pregnancy. Subway immediately pounced on the motion, asking the judge for sanctions against Amin's lawyers for bringing a frivolous lawsuit before the court and for wasting Subway's time and resources.

The judge denied Subway's motion, as Amin's lawyers' mistakes did not constitute knowingly or recklessly pursuing a meritless claim.

So, in the end, it turns out that the Subway tuna case was something of a red herring!

References: A U.S. judge rules that Subway can be sued over its '100% tuna' claim | Lawsuit accusing Subway of not using real tuna is dismissed | Lawsuit filed by woman claiming Subway’s tuna isn’t tuna dismissed | Judge dismisses 100% tuna class action against Subway