Fishy business: US lab fails to find tuna DNA in Subway tuna sandwiches

A US lab could not find tuna DNA in 60 inches of Subway sandwiches supposedly serving the fish.

The lab performed PCR tests, commissioned by the New York Times, to find if samples of the sandwich filling contained one of five common tuna species.

“No amplifiable tuna DNA was present in the sample and so we obtained no amplification products from the DNA,” it said. “Therefore, we cannot identify the species.”

It pointed to two conclusions:

“One, it’s so heavily processed that whatever we could pull out, we couldn’t make an identification.

“Or we got some and there’s just nothing there that’s tuna.”

The world’s largest sandwich retailer was previously challenged about its tuna sandwich’s contents in January. A class action lawsuit in California claims the sandwiches are “completely bereft of tuna as an ingredient”.

Subway has strongly denied the claims, telling the New York Times: “There simply is no truth to the allegations in the complaint that was filed in California.

“Subway delivers 100 per cent cooked tuna to its restaurants, which is mixed with mayonnaise and used in freshly made sandwiches, wraps and salads that are served to and enjoyed by our guests.”

Inside Edition also tested Subway’s tuna in February, finding sandwiches from New York did have tuna in them.