Subway Is About To Start Slicing Its Own Meat For The First Time. Here's Why

The first Subway location opened in 1965 when Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck sought a way to pay DeLuca's way through college, via Subway. The two opened a customizable sandwich shop, selling to the citizens of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Today, the chain can be found in over 100 countries worldwide and has over 37,000 restaurants in operation.

Subway's slogan might be "Eat Fresh," but according to Eat This, Not That, the sandwich shop chain hasn't always prioritized freshness. Many ingredients arrive pre-packaged and ready to add to sandwiches, meaning they may be chock full of preservatives. Subway told the outlet that food was packaged this way in order to ensure the consistency of its products.

However, the chain seems to have changed its tune with regard to some of its ingredients. In an attempt to introduce fresher foods to each store, Subway is making a big change to the way its food is prepped. Employees will now be required to slice meats in-store.

Up until now, Subway restaurants had pre-sliced meat shipped to each of its locations, reports Today. But the chain has decided to change that, and will now be adding deli slicers at its locations. Employees will be responsible for preparing freshly-sliced deli meats each day. A Subway spokesperson told Today that the chain hopes to improve the quality and freshness of its ingredients by making the change.

Subway may have taken inspiration from another sandwich chain when making this change. Jersey Mike's employees slice meats on-demand for customers ordering sandwiches and use the gimmick in its advertising.

Subway employees must be a minimum of 18 years old to operate the slicers, raising questions about employee workflow over on Reddit. However, Today reports that employees will slice the meats in batches in the morning and afternoon, so there should be a bit of a stock to fall back on. It is unclear if all employees over the age of 18 will be required to use the machines.