DNA Test Shows Subway's Chicken May Only Be 50% Chicken
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — If you thought that chicken sandwich you ordered at Subway did not fully taste like fowl, you may have been right.
According to a Canadian report, a DNA test shows only half of Subway's oven-roasted chicken patty is made with real chicken.
Subway is among five fast-food restaurants whose chicken the Canadian Broadcast Corporation had tested.
The results show the Oven Roasted Chicken patty is 53.6 percent chicken while the Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki strip is 42.8 percent chicken, according to a CBC Marketplace investigation.
The rest is made of soy, CBC reports.
The sandwich chain disputes the report in a released statement:
"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."
The same test was done on the chicken at Wendy's and McDonald's.
Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich is 88.5 percent chicken while McDonald's Grilled Country Chicken is 84.9 percent chicken, according to the findings.
Wendy's response: "Wendy's Grilled Chicken Sandwich is a whole muscle chicken breast fillet; not reformed or restructured. In addition, we use only 100% Canadian chicken in Canada. For our grilled chicken sandwich and other grilled chicken products (salads, wraps, etc.) we use a juicy, all-white meat chicken breast fillet, marinated in a blend of herbs. We do not provide ingredient percentages as we consider that information to be proprietary."
McDonald's response: "Our grilled chicken sandwich is made with 100% seasoned chicken breast. The chicken breast is (a single piece) trimmed for size to fit the sandwich. We don't release the percentage of each ingredient for competitive reasons, but on the nutrition centre people can see that our grilled chicken includes seasoning and other ingredients, just like at home."