- A federal judge ruled that Subway can be sued over the contents of its tuna products.
- An original class-action lawsuit was filed in January 2021.
- The lawsuit alleged that the company's tuna products were made from "a mixture of various concoctions."
A lawsuit claiming that Subway misled customers about the contents of its tuna products can proceed, a federal judge has ruled.
California judge, Jon Tigar, partially rejected Subway's motion to dismiss an ongoing lawsuit on July 7, opening the door for the plaintiff, Nilima Amin, to try to prove her claims in court.
The original class-action lawsuit, filed in January 2021, included a claim that the company's tuna products were made from "a mixture of various concoctions," including other fish species, chicken, pork, and cattle.
The class-action lawsuit claimed that independent testing had "repeatedly" shown that Subway made its tuna product with no tuna fish, but the plaintiffs amended their claims in June 2021 to focus instead on whether Subway served "100% sustainably caught skipjack and yellowfin tuna."
Subway's lawyers argued that any traces of other ingredients found in its tuna products might result from cross-contact when making sandwiches or from eggs in mayonnaise, the court filings show.
Subway has vigorously defended its tuna, saying it only buys wild-caught skipjack and yellowfin tuna. It added that its suppliers for US stores require statements on the species, catch method, and traceability information for each delivery of fish.
Subway has also launched a webpage to counter what it describes as "myths" about its tuna, as well as "misinformation generated in the media."
A spokesperson for Subway told Insider: "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."
US District Judge Jon Tigar dismissed one of the two plaintiffs from the lawsuit, saying that she had no evidence that she herself had bought sandwiches from Subway. The judge, however, granted plaintiff, Nilima Amin, permission to attempt to prove her claim that Subway's tuna salads, wraps, and sandwiches "partially or wholly lack" tuna.
In February 2021, Inside Edition sent samples from tuna sandwiches in Queens for testing and found that they were made from tuna. But four months later, The New York Times sent some of Subway's tuna to a commercial lab, which told the publication that "no amplifiable tuna DNA was present in the sample," leaving it unable to identify the species.
Subway says that the NYT investigation didn't prove that Subway's tuna wasn't actually tuna, arguing that the lack of DNA found "was a problem with the test, not the tuna."
The sandwich chain revamped its menu last summer, rolling out new ingredients, as well as changing existing ones but CEO John Chidsey said that "the one thing we did not touch was our tuna."