Despite New York Times Reporting, Inside Edition Investigation Finds Subway's Tuna Sandwiches Contain Tuna

A lawsuit filed earlier this year claims Subway's tuna sandwiches don't actually contain tuna. Inside Edition sent three sandwiches to a lab, which found tuna present in all of them. But a recent New York Times report tells a different story.

The great Subway tuna sandwich debate shows no sign of dying down.

Following a lawsuit filed earlier this year by two women alleging that the restaurant’s tuna “does not contain tuna,” Inside Edition sent three of the sandwiches to a lab, which found tuna present in all of them.

Subway also insists its sandwiches and salads contain nothing but 100%, wild caught tuna. CEO John Chidsey went on Fox Business to defend the item. 

“We 100% stand behind our tuna. As I said, it's the one ingredient we didn't even touch in the largest brand refresh in the history of this brand,” Chidsey said.

But recently, The New York Times published a story saying it had hired a lab to conduct its own tests of subway tuna sandwiches and found “no tuna DNA.” Following the report, Inside Edition decided it was time, once again, to conduct our own independent test. 

Investigative producer Katie Taylor went to three subway locations in New Jersey. At each location, she purchased a plain tuna sandwich. Then she packed all three sandwiches on ice and shipped them overnight express to Applied Food Technologies in Alachua, Florida for testing.

The DNA results came back and showed that all three of the sandwiches tested by Inside Edition are really tuna. 

LeeAnn Applewhite, Applied Food Technologies president, confirmed to Inside Edition that they did a DNA test and found tuna in all three of the sandwiches. 

“And you found real tuna in all of the samples?” Inside Edition Chief Investigative Correspondent Lisa Guerrero asked Applewhite.

“That is correct. We did,” Applewhite said.

“Are you sure?” Guerrero asked.

“100% positive,” Applewhite said.

The New York Times would not identify the lab they used, but told Inside Edition they stick by their reporting. Our expert suspects their lab doesn't have the proper technology to extract DNA from tuna.

Related Stories