Cape Town - If a fast food chain says its product is a foot long, it is really?
The question was first raised by a keen-eyed Australian who discovered earlier this month that his Subway “Footlong” measured only 28 cm, and not 30,5cm - or 12 inches, Sapa-AFP reports.
Subway is now being sued by two American customers who say that Subway deliberately and systematically shortens its sandwiches to 11 or 11.5 inches.
Subway has nearly 40 000 outlets in 100 countries, with 16 of those in South Africa.
The Cape Argus tested the allegations of shorter subs.
Subway’s sandwiches are offered in two sizes, 15cm and 30cm (a foot-long).
When the Cape Argus measured the two sizes, the sandwiches from a franchise in the city indeed came up short.
The foot long measured 28cm and the 15cm sub was a centimetre short.
Internationally, Subway has apologised for the error. It said the size of the bread can vary if the different franchises don’t bake it according to the proper specifications.
“We regret any instance where we did not fully deliver on our promise to our customers, we freshly bake our bread throughout the day… we have redoubled our efforts to ensure consistency and correct length in every sandwich we serve,” the statement said.
Subway said their commitment remained striving to ensure that “every” Subway sandwich is 30cm at each location worldwide.
Barnadasa Masawi, who works at a Subway franchise in the CBD, said they had not had any complaints about the length of their bread.
“I won’t lie to you, they are all the right size. We try to bake (the bread) to be 6 inches and 12 inches but we can’t really tell with our eyes that it is that size,” Masawi said.
An employee at another Subway, who didn’t want to be named, said he was certain their bread always came out at 30cm, and they had never received any complaints. - Cape Argus