The Type Of Tuna Subway Uses In Its Sandwiches

Subway is a versatile sandwich shop with a ton of options and potential combinations, but a tuna sandwich is the lone seafood option on the regular menu. Made of a simple tuna salad with bread and toppings of your choice, the sandwich stays on the menu in part by staying economical to make. That's why Subway uses flaked tuna brine for the tuna salad in its sandwiches or, if you prefer, on a salad.

Flake tuna refers to the leftover bits of fish after a loin (the upper part of the fish's belly) has been processed into solid or chunk tuna. "Solid" means the entire loin was packaged as one piece, and "chunk" means broken-off pieces. Most grocery store canned tuna is either chunk or solid.

Flake tuna, as you might imagine, is the remaining flakes of usable meat from the fish. It may also contain pieces of slightly lower-quality tuna. While it's true that flake tuna is generally less desirable than chunk or solid, it's not without its sensible uses, including on Subway's tuna sandwich.

Flake tuna is perfectly suitable for the mix of ingredients that is Subway's tuna sandwich filling, but the reason why the chain uses it is far more straightforward. Flake tuna is less expensive than chunk or solid, so these savings are passed down to the Subway customer.

Flake tuna is a valued part of the tuna production process. Flake tuna's low cost expands the potential customer base for tuna producers, including massive global chains like Subway. Utilizing lower-quality fish and leftover pieces of high-quality fish makes the tuna industry more sustainable by using as much meat as possible.

Whether you enjoy Subway's tuna for its affordability, taste, or as a keystone ingredient in a strange custom order, thank the economical nature of flake tuna for its existence — despite rumors and a lawsuit that the sandwich contains little to no tuna.