As one of the most convenient, affordable, and relatively healthy lunch options, Subway has taken over in a lot of college dorms, offices, and even parties. So it seems the appropriate time to ask – is Subway healthy?
“Subway, eat fresh”
Does this sound familiar? In fact, Subway’s positioning until this year has always been to “eat fresh.” If anything, its new slogan is to eat even fresher, with a focus on “clean slate.” Subway advertises to use “fresh locally grown produce” that is “free of artificial preservatives,” which is likely its response to the whole healthy eating and organic trend
Self-made “Healthy Fast Food” Giant
Do you know who Jared Fogle is? If not, watch the following video.
Basically, he was a college student back in the 1990s, and lost 245 pounds by eating a Subway diet and walking. An article telling his story was published in Men’s Health, which quickly went viral and upped the game for Subway. At a time when the majority of fast food companies were still struggling with healthy offerings, Subway had a head start and soon fully committed to the “low-fat,” “healthier” strategy.
The sandwich giant went on to hire Jared Fogle in 2000, until a bigger headline hit the news – Fogle was convicted in a child pornography case. About the same time, Subway’s healthy campaign began falling apart.
A Look at Its Menu
Let’s look at some options from the Sub of the Day Lineup.
On Monday, there’s a Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sub made with all-white, non-antibiotics meat and fat-free sweet onion sauce. Its nutrition content? 370 calories with 4 grams of fat, but an insanely high amount of sodium. Overall, it doesn’t seem bad at all.
Thursday is a cheat day, so you get to order the Italian B.M.T. Before you take the first bite, however, be prepared for 390 calories, 16 grams of fat, and even more sodium content. I will certainly say that it sounds charmingly delicious, but healthy? Not so much.
Lastly, you can end the week with a Meatball Marinara, which is bound to be a meat lover’s party. Just don’t lie to yourself that you’re eating healthy, because let’s be frank here – you might as well order from McDonald’s.
Most of Subway’s sandwiches lie somewhere between the above two, but you probably wouldn’t expect a lot of people to go to Subway for a Veggie Delite. That being said, whether Subway is healthy largely depends on your choice of sandwich.
The Real Problem
Getting to the bottom of this question, you would wonder why, then, are all the healthy eating advocates busy debunking Subway’s claim? Well, despite Subway’s effort to provide healthy options, it’s still a fast food chain and has extents when it comes to serving fresh and healthy food.
Starting with concerns about using enriched flour, rather than whole wheat flour (which Subway seems to have changed), in its so-called 9-grain wheat bread, people are simply unhappy with the way the ingredients are processed before they come into the stores. What’s more, there have been as many doubts on its meat as there are on its bread, which is not encouraging at all.
As the healthy fever continues to heat up, Subway faces fierce competitors like sweetgreen, Chipotle, and honeygrow. These restaurants have elevated the healthy campaign to even higher grounds, much beyond what Subway has managed so far.
Is Subway healthy? It certainly offers some relatively healthy options and is aiming to provide more. I would not recommend the Subway diet, however, if you really want to lose weight. In my opinion, it may be great to grab a Sub on the run every once in a while, but sticking to Subway? No way.