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The recent drama surrounding Subway’s tuna has tuna melt lovers all around California asking “what have I been eating all these years?” Earlier this week it was revealed that two women in California filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, accusing Subway of selling “anything but tuna.” The whole thing sounds gross but it’s not the first time the company has been in hot water. Thankfully they have one person that offered up sympathy- Jessica Simpson.
On Friday Simpson shared a video about the scandal by the TODAY show on Twitter and added, “It‘s OK @SUBWAY. It IS confusing.” Subway’s Twitter account replied back, “ugh we were just about to call you. confirmed. our tuna is 100% wild caught tuna and 100% not chicken.”
True reality TV fans remember when Simpson famously asked her new husband Nick Lachey if the canned tuna she was eating was chicken or fish on their 2003 MTV reality series, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. “Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it’s tuna but it says, ‘Chicken.... By the Sea.’ Is that stupid?” Simpson asked. Lachey looked a bit stunned and shook his head in disbelief and said, “you act like you never ate tuna before.” “Chicken of the Sea’ is the brand, you know, cause a lot of people eat tuna, and a lot of people eat chicken. So, it’s like chicken of the sea.” He explained. “I understand now, I read it wrong,” Simpson replied embarrassed.
According to The Washington Post, California residents Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin filed a lawsuit against the company after running independent tests on the “tuna.” The lawsuit alleges it’s actually, “a mixture of various concoctions that do not constitute tuna, yet have been blended together by defendants to imitate the appearance of tuna.” If their claim is certified as a class action, thousands of Subway customers in California who purchased tuna after Jan. 21, 2017, could potentially jump on board. Subway has said there is simply no truth to the allegations and it “delivers 100% cooked tuna to its restaurants, which is mixed with mayonnaise and used in freshly made sandwiches, wraps.” On Friday its Twitter account shared a photo of a tuna sandwich and tweeted, “keep fishing folks, we‘ll keep serving 100% wild-caught tuna.”
It’s not the first time people have sued Subway. In 2013, a group of people sued the chain because their foot-long sandwiches were not actually 12 inches. The group demanded they either live up to the 12-inch claims or stop using the “footlong” logo, per Eatery. The final approval of the settlement was granted in 2016 and Subway agreed to take steps over the next four years to make their bread pack that 12-inch punch.
In 2014 the sandwich chain also announced it would remove the chemical azodicarbonamide from its bread. The ingredient is used to make shoe rubber and yoga mats. Calls for its removal started after a food blogger launched a petition.