PSA: Subway's nutritional info is underestimated

PSA : Most nutritional info is underestimated.

Manufacturers are allowed to deviate from their labels by up to 20%. Usually they'll underestimate, ESPECIALLY with "diet" or "lowfat" foods.

I always overestimate calories, underestimate exercise.

No one got fat by overeating apples & broccoli!

No one got fat by overeating apples & broccoli!

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!!!!!!!!

Subway is crap. They heat their stuff up in a microwave which loses all of the nutrients in whatever is being heated.

I can't stand that franchise!

I worked at Subway for 5 years between two different stores. It's been about 5 years since I quit, though, so some things have changed in their practices but I'm sure some things are the same. My mom was a manager at several Subways for about 8 years. Here is what I know based on my experience of working and eating there. I'm not going to comment on whether or not Subway is healthy or how healthy it is. I'm just gonna tell you what I know.


First of all, YOU CAN BE PICKY. If you want 4 slices of cucumber in quarters and arranged the bread evenly, tell them. You can ask for pretty much any customization you want. You can even ask them to scoop out the extra bread in the middle (this cuts a bit of calories and was frequently requested in one of my stores).

YOU are the customer. YOU are paying for it. TELL THEM what you want. If you are so concerned about calories, find out what exactly is supposed to go on the sandwich and the serving sizes (veggies vary by sandwich in the calorie count).

Instead of saying, "honey mustard", say "I want two very light lines of honey mustard" and stress the 'very light' part. Or if you don't trust the person, just say one light line and go from there. If you want only 1 tomato instead of 3, say that you only want one tomato (and hey, get them to cut that in half for you too so it's even throughout the sandwich).

I used to be able to make my own sandwiches so I'm very picky. You can be too! Unless they take your sandwich to the back room (and why would they?), they probably cannot spit on it. (But, you probably don't want to push people who look like they're on the verge of losing it. There was a guy who worked before me who threw a knife at a customer because he had had it with customers. But he was crazy.)

Second of all, TALK LOUD AND CLEAR. It's really hard to hear back there with all of the machines going.

So on to my review....

BREAD
The bread should be accurate 99% of the time unless the 'sandwich artist' didn't cut the piece of bread equally in half (which happens in a rush). The bread with toppings will probably vary in calories because I know my store didn't measure out the cheese, honey oat, or Italian herbs w/cheese toppings.

MEATS
The sliced deli meats are probably going to be accurate as long as they put the correct amount of slices on the sandwich. If you get double meat, of course the calorie count will increase. The roasted chicken breast patty will be accurate as long on the food supplier got the portion size correct.

All of the other meats, like anything they use a scoop for, is probably going to vary. Back when I worked there, we measured everything and put each portion in a little tray before it went out on the line. We had to be exact. All my bosses were very picky about that probably because of cost control. But nowadays I noticed that Subways just throw all the chicken strips, chicken teriyaki, buffalo chicken, steak, tuna, etc. into a big cambro pan and use the scoop. With this method I always get varying amounts of meat--usually way too much. So unless this type of loose meat comes pre-measured in trays, I wouldn't trust the calories.

Tuna is probably accurate as long as they give you the correct 2 level scoops. It's one bag of mayo per can of tuna, so unless they are incompetent, it should be correct.

CHEESES
Sliced cheeses should be fine as long as they give you the appropriate amount. The shredded cheese is obviously going to be off unless they weigh or measure it accurately.

VEGGIES
Hahahahahahaha! Please. We were supposed to put something like 3 olives on a 6" and 5 on a 12". Unless the person is a stickler for rules or very new, the person making your sandwich will probably put the normal amount of veggies that most people ask for, which is more than what corporate uses to calculate calories. So if you want something different, ask for it BEFORE they put it on your sandwich. Also note that each sandwich is calculated using specific veggies. The sandwich artists are probably not trained to know what those veggies are, oddly enough. So if you're a stickler about calories, you need to do your homework. The subway website has all that info.

COOKIES
Should be right on mark with their calories unless the food supplier messed up the portions.

SOUP
Probably not accurate. When I worked there, we just filled the bowl/cup up almost to the top and who knows if it was exactly the correct portion.

That's why it's better to just eat at home. You know exactly what you're getting.