Subway Chicken Contains Less Than 60% Chicken, New Test Finds
It might taste like chicken, but a new report claims your Subway order may not be really chicken at all. Or at least not completely. According to results of a test commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, both the franchise's oven-roasted chicken and chicken strips contain less than 60% chicken DNA.
In fact, the first round of results shocked Trent University researchers so much, the Wildlife Forensic DNA Laboratory conducted additional tests with more samples. The sliced chicken averaged just 53.6% chicken DNA, and the strips fared even worse. The "meat" from the Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sandwich contained only 42.8% chicken. The majority of the genetic material actually matched soy, which the fast food industry uses to make meat last longer, stick together and cost less, according to food scientist Ben Bohrer.
Processed and seasoned meat won't ever reach a 100% target in a DNA test, the CBC notes, but other competitors performed much better. McDonald's Grilled Country Chicken contained 84.9% chicken DNA, and Wendy's Grilled Chicken averaged 88.5% chicken DNA.
Before you freak out about your lunch-time sandwich, an important note: The lab is based in Ontario, so it's possible that these results only reflect sandwiches sold in Canada, where meat standards and processing may be different. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows a 20% margin of error when it comes to labeling foods. That means meat containing 85% chicken is considered okay, but results like 50 or 40% would be concerning even here.
Three years ago, Subway came under fire for a "yoga mat chemical" in its bread after a food blogger's petition went viral. The chain used the ingredient as a bleaching agent and dough conditioner but azodicarbonamide also appears in yoga mats and shoe rubber. "If there are people who have that hesitation, that hesitation is going to be removed," Subway spokesman Tony Pace told CBS at the time. The company soon phased the ingredient out.
After learning about this recent report, Subway Canada says it's looking into the findings, and provided the following statement to CBC:
SUBWAY Canada 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.
GoodHousekeeping.com has also reached out to Subway and will update this post with a comment.
[h/t Business Insider]
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