Why Subway's Bread Is Not Legally A Bread Product In Ireland

If you go to Subway and buy a sandwich using one of our genius ordering hacks, you'd assume that it will be served inside bread — but if you order that same sandwich in Ireland, that may not technically be the case. Sure, your ham or chicken teriyaki sandwich will probably look the same as in the United States, but legally speaking, Subway's bread is not counted as bread, at least according to Ireland's Supreme Court.

In 2020, Ireland's Supreme Court's five judges found that Subway bread could not be counted as bread under Irish tax law. The crux of the issue was the bread's sugar content: For something to qualify as bread under those laws, sugar or fat needs to comprise no more than 2% of the bread's flour (which is different that all-purpose four) in the dough. Subway's bread isn't even close, with a sugar content of around 10% in its regular white or whole wheat dough. The exact volume of sugar varies across bread types.

So, instead of being classified as bread, the Irish court determined that it fits into the "confectionary or fancy baked good" category, making Subway's bread closer to a cake — or realistically, something like brioche, a lightly sweet bread (which is different to challah). Unsurprisingly, Subway disputed the finding, issuing a widely-cited statement reiterating that its bread is, well, bread. "We have been baking fresh bread in our restaurants for more than three decades."

Importantly, the Irish court's verdict relates to tax law – specifically, one Irish Subway franchisee was hoping to avoid paying Value-Added Tax VAT (a type of sales tax) when buying its bread. Under that tax scheme, bread is considered a "staple" and is subject to no VAT (along with essentials like fruits and vegetables). However, to qualify as a staple, that bread needs to be below the aforementioned 2% sugar threshold. Anything above that is neither a staple nor a bread and is subject to a 13.5% VAT when sold to customers. The franchisee behind the case hoped to get this VAT refunded by challenging this classification.

Bear in mind that food labeling isn't the issue here, so the court verdict doesn't stop Subway from using the term "bread" in Ireland — and the chain still uses that term. In the four years since this court case, it's unclear whether Subway has changed its bread formula in Ireland. The company has been quiet on the topic, but one Redditor claims it remains the same stating, "Been true forever and no [reason] why would it change."  If that's true, this means that you're not getting ham and cheese on wheat but on cake — at least when it comes to VAT. This isn't Subway's first food labeling controversy: In 2021, a lawsuit accused the chain of not serving real tuna, but that case panned out differently, as lab tests revealed that Subway's tuna was the real deal.