Lawsuit: Subway's tuna is not actually tuna, but a 'mixture of various concoctions'

Sorry, Charlie.

Two Bay Area customers allege there’s something fishy with Subway’s tuna sandwiches.

Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin of California’s Alameda County recently filed a lawsuit accusing the restaurant franchise of misrepresenting its tuna sandwich.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges Subway’s tuna is “made from anything but tuna.”

Welcome to Subway where the bread is cake, a foot is 11 inches, and the tuna isn’t tuna (allegedly) https://t.co/kgSKIXEPfq pic.twitter.com/k9W1XZNRos

— Eater (@Eater) January 28, 2021

The suit claims “the filling in the products has no scintilla of tuna at all.” The tuna is “made from a mixture of various concoctions that do not constitute tuna, yet have been blended together by defendants to imitate the appearance of tuna,” the court documents add.

“We found that the ingredients were not tuna and not fish,” one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs told The Washington Post.

Alex Brown, an attorney with the Lanier Law Firm who is representing the women, said they are trying to determine what ingredients are used in Subway’s tuna. “We are conducting tests to figure out what it is. The lab tests thus far have only told us what it isn’t,” he said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch.

According to the company’s website, the tuna salad in the chain’s sandwiches is made with flaked tuna in brine, mayonnaise and a flavor-protecting additive.

“There simply is no truth to the allegations in the complaint that was filed in California,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “Subway delivers 100% cooked tuna to its restaurants, which is mixed with mayonnaise and used in freshly made sandwiches, wraps and salads that are served to and enjoyed by our guests.”

If certified as a class-action, the lawsuit could eventually represent thousands of Subway customers who bought tuna sandwiches or wraps after Jan. 21, 2017, in California, where it has more than 2,200 locations.

You can write anything in a civil complaint, pay a fee, and have it docketed. I’m as uncomfortable with news stories that valorize mere allegations like this as I am buying seafood at Subway. https://t.co/PheoxXpLpi

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) January 28, 2021

Reading this right after that Subway "tuna" article is making me super queasy. https://t.co/iRumQAnqXN

— N. K. Jemisin (@nkjemisin) January 28, 2021