(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
I knew it.
Earlier in 2017, when writing about Subway’s disgusting and frankly offensive pulled pork and Fritos sandwich, I said this:
Let’s talk about the perpetually stinky (literally) Subway and their ‘Pulled Pork and Fritos’ sandwich. First of all, riddle me this: How is that pork being cooked? As far as I know, Subway doesn’t have a smoker, crock-pot, or grill at its restaurant. Red flag, right off the bat.
Welp, turns out they don’t even have to worry about cooking their meat, ’cause it isn’t even meat in the first place!
A DNA analysis conducted by researcher Matt Harnden at Trent University’s Wildlife Forensic DNA Laboratory tested the poultry content of six popular chicken sandwiches, finding that the chicken used in Subway sandwiches contained only about half chicken DNA. The other sandwiches tested were McDonald’s country chicken, Wendy’s grilled chicken sandwich, A&W chicken grill deluxe, and Tim Hortons Chipotle chicken grilled wrap.
Additionally, two Subway sandwiches were tested: the oven roasted chicken sandwich and the sweet onion chicken teriyaki.
An unadulterated piece of chicken from the store should come in at 100 per cent chicken DNA. Seasoning, marinating or processing meat would bring that number down, so fast food samples seasoned for taste wouldn’t be expected to hit that 100 per cent targe
In the first round of tests, the lab tested two samples of five of the meat products, and one sample of the Subway strips. From each of those samples, the researchers isolated three smaller samples and tested each of those. They were all DNA tested and the score was then averaged for each sandwich. Most of the scores were “very close” to 100 per cent chicken DNA, Harnden says.
Subway’s results were such an outlier that the team decided to test them again, biopsying five new oven roasted chicken pieces, and five new orders of chicken strips. Those results were averaged: the oven roasted chicken scored 53.6 per cent chicken DNA, and the chicken strips were found to have just 42.8 per cent chicken DNA. The majority of the remaining DNA? Soy.
Subway released a statement denying the results of the study:
“SUBWAY cannot confirm the veracity of the results of the lab testing you had conducted. However, we are concerned by the alleged findings you cite with respect to the proportion of soy content. Our chicken strips and oven roasted chicken contain 1% or less of soy protein. We use this ingredient in these products as a means to help stabilize the texture and moisture. All of our chicken items are made from 100% white meat chicken which is marinated, oven roasted and grilled. We tested our chicken products recently for nutritional and quality attributes and found it met our food quality standards. We will look into this again with our supplier to ensure that the chicken is meeting the high standard we set for all of our menu items and ingredients.”
Next, they need to test the pulled pork. I bet you that’s about 30% real pork.
I give it another decade until Subway files for Chapter 7. It’s a trash company pedaling poison to the entire world and it needs to be stopped. Oh, and they also employ pedophiles.
