Is Subway Really Fresh? (SOLVED)

Subway can be considered fresh to a certain degree, given that some ingredients are fresh while others are frozen. 

Founded in 1956, Subway is one of the largest fast food chains in the world, and its slogan is ‘Eat Fresh.’ It’s one of the few brands that promote itself around the idea of being healthy and fresh. 

How much truth is really in that marketing strategy? The answer is that it is true but with a lot of asterisks. 

This article will cover how Subway supplies its franchises with its raw ingredients and how it’s subsequently stored. 

How Fresh Are Subway Ingredients? 

In terms of veggies and bread, Subway is relatively fresh. Most vegetables are received whole while the bread is baked every morning. 

You can rest assured that most of the veggies Subway uses they’re chopped and served by the store employees and are pretty fresh. These vegetables include onions, tomatoes, and. cucumbers. 

The one exception is lettuce, which arrives chopped and can be as old as a couple of weeks. Naturally, pickled items such as jalapenos and olives arrive pre-packaged and ready-to-use. 

Subway’s bread is freshly baked every morning, but the dough comes pre-made to the store frozen. This, fortunately, does not affect the taste. 

There’s also a distinct advantage for staler bread as it’s a lot more crispy than fresh bread. This makes it ideal for toasting. 

Sauces used by Subway come prepared, and some of them, such as mayo, ranch, and ketchup, need to be refrigerated. These items are pre-packaged from the factory. 

Overall, the veggies, bread, and condiments used by Subway are relatively fresh. In the case of lettuce, you can ask the employee about their age and decide accordingly. 

Is Subway Meat Processed? 

Subway meat is processed to a certain degree with added ingredients, fillers, and preservatives. However, this doesn’t make it fake food, as it’s still edible and not harmful. 

The concept of food being “real” is a bit subjective. Like other fast food franchises, Subway specializes in moving a lot of volume of ingredients every day. 

It can be challenging to achieve that without using some additives. 

Subway claims its chicken to be 100% natural and without any artificial flavors or colors. It is, however, still considered to be processed as it comes pre-packaged from the factory. 

This claim has come under a lot of scrutinies, and a test found out that the meat in question was only 50% chicken. Subway has since denied these allegations. 

For its tuna, too, Subway has come under a lot of controversies. Not only is it processed, but a DNA test was unable to find any trait resembling a tuna fish, which is worrisome. 

Subway’s other meats, such as steak and meatballs, are also processed. This is because they come pre-packaged with additives and preservatives. 

Subway, however, does not use MSG at all in its meats. There are nitrates in some of them, such as bacon, pepperoni, Italian BMT meat, and capicola. 

On the other hand, steak, turkey, chicken, and beef do not contain any of these nitrates. 

Is Subway Meat Frozen? 

Every piece of meat that is prepared and served at Subway is frozen. Using frozen meat is far from uncommon practice for any fast food franchise, but at Subway, it is a bit annoying. 

The company’s tagline is ‘Eat Fresh,’ but they serve frozen meat despite that. That’s certainly misleading. 

Subway’s chicken, steak, meatballs, tuna, strips, etc., all come frozen and packed before being cooked in the store before serving. The meat is frozen and highly processed with a bunch of additives. 

Mostly, it’s okay to consume meat from Subway as it’s not harmful. It’s advisable to steer clear of Subway’s tuna, as a DNA test could not identify actual tuna meat. 

Does Subway Wash Its Vegetables? 

Subway does wash its vegetables before using them for preparation in its products. There are a couple of reasons for this. 

Firstly, as a massive chain, Subway is responsible for making its food healthy, hygienic, and safe for its customers. All of their veggies come from outside, some whole and others chopped. 

A large chunk of these items come frozen. Washing these vegetables is essential as it helps remove bacteria, pesticides, or dirt. 

Secondly, washing the vegetables makes them appear fresher. The veggies Subway offers aren’t exactly new in terms of the timeline of being plucked. 

This is especially true for the lettuce, which can be as old as 15 days before ending up in your sandwich. Hence, washing re-moisturizes them, and they end up looking livelier. 

Subway has faced much criticism regarding its veggies’ freshness and ingredients. Thus, it is of utmost importance for its reputation that its stores wash the vegetables properly before serving. 

Final Remarks

Subway is a behemoth of a fast food chain, competing with McDonald’s, KFC, and Burger King. Unlike those franchises, however, it sells an idea of freshness and health. 

As a result, it got a higher standard to maintain and many more things to consider. The freshness of the ingredients, the method of preparation, and the contents of its meat are all critical factors. 

In this article, we looked at the ingredients used by Subway to determine how fresh its food is. Here is a quick recap-

Subway is mostly fresh. For the most part, the veggies at the Subway are fresh-cut and prepared before serving. The bread, too, is baked every day. However, all their meat is frozen and processed.