Back in the Before Times, when everyone went to the office to work, the choice of restaurants near my office was fairly limited. One of the few places that was walking distance from the office was Subway, and thus Subway was a popular lunch place among my coworkers. Then a Beach Hut Deli* opened right next door to the office. Some of my coworkers complained about how Beach Hut’s sandwiches are more expensive that Subway’s, and declared that they were going to stick with with Subway. But that completely ignores how much more meat Beach Hut puts in their sandwiches. I think I feel more full after eating a 6" sandwich from Beach Hut than a Foot Long from Subway.
I have no idea if Beach Hut makes their own meat, but it is definitely higher quality than Subway’s.
*Primarily a California chain, although they’re in a few other states as well.
Ah, so, they’re in the north and the south and are slowly moving into L.A. County. They look tasty, but, man, they do put cream cheese on a lot of their items.
Probably not. The whole thing was basically a giant attack on Subway, not a rational analysis.
The thing is, it would almost certainly be more expensive for Subway to engineer some sort of tuna fish substitute that would taste right, than it would be to just use lower quality tuna in the first place.
This is true of nearly ALL products that are made from agricultural commodities- they’re so cheap that finding economical substitutes is very unlikely.
One of the tropes in Cyberpunk fiction was that real meat and real vegetables would very expensive, so the common people would live almost entirely on cheap soy substitutes. Real meat being expensive- yeah makes sense. You can certainly make soy protein into substitutes. Those substitutes would indeed be inferior. They also tend to cost more than the real thing.
I remember hearing in college about how large breweries were using all sorts of “additives” to cut costs.
Turned out that it wasn’t cost-cutting at all. Everything they used that wasn’t grain, water, or yeast was there for standardization purposes or stabilization purposes, such as clarification/shelf life, and added noticeably to the cost of the beer.
I mean, ingredients don’t get cheaper than bulk rice, corn, or malted barley. And water’s typically very cheap as well. Yeast isn’t very expensive when you culture your own like the big boys do.
So adding something like Sinamar to adjust the color of your beer adds cost. So does adding foam enhancers, etc…
Most of my vegetable intake like olives, green peppers, tomatoes, and spinach come from Subway subs, so yes I do consider it healthy in my diet at least.
Hmm. I never considered Subway’s healthy. I also don’t like their food, though, and almost never eat it. It’s probably relevant that i don’t like a bunch of crap in my sandwiches. I tend to get bread, a meat, and maybe some lettuce. (No pickle, no mayo, certainly no peppers.) And Subway’s offers a small quantity of low quality meat on flavorless bread.
A foot-long Meatsmorgasbord with plenty of toppings, extra mayo and oil, a bag of Fritos and a couple gooey Subway cookies is not exactly a low calorie, heart healthy meal.
They never claimed a foot long with lots of meat and mayo was healthy. What they did claim was if you got certain 6 inch sandwiches a certain way you could have a low calorie option. And they clearly post the nutritional information. You can eat healthier there and not overload on calories. You can also gorge yourself on fat and calories if you choose.
It’s really the only selling point. I live in New Jersey and have 5 better deli options near every Subway. But low calorie they ain’t.
It seems weird, and maybe even a little f-ed up, to equate low calorie with healthy and high calorie with unhealthy. For most humans in most of human history, not getting enough calories was a bigger danger than getting too many.
But of course we’re talking about people nowadays in places like America, many (though not all) of whom consume too much rather than too little. Even so, if your overall calorie consumption is at an okay level, is it unhealthy if a substantial portion of that comes from Subway sandwiches? It’s at least healthier than if you’re getting most of your calories from soda or booze or donuts. And if your overall calorie consumption is too high, Subway may or may not be the best thing to leave out.
And personally, I’ve found that there are occasions when eating too little puts me at risk of feeling unsatisfied and hungry later and filling up on random junk that definitely isn’t healthy.
A fair approach to this question is to compare alternatives, both at Subway and with other fast food restaurants.
Subway offers many people the opportunity to have more vegetables at a meal than they might otherwise choose.
It is not true a few thin slices of cheese is unhealthy or will make much difference. But provolone is delicious sandwich cheese and some types have little flavour. Good delis have good cheese and ample meats. I like a larger meat to bread ratio.
Sandwich meat is processed and salty but the given amounts at Subway are too insubstantial to be unhealthy.
A wrap is higher fibre and lower calorie than a bun but calories alone is a very mediocre measure of health. Still, a wrap with extra vegetables and a soup or fruit and a low calorie beverage is “healthier” than most fast food choices - the best being chili made with beans, salads without many added carbs and dressings with limited fat, fish or chicken without much breading, and avoiding high sugar items.
A healthy diet means 80-90% of meals and snacks are healthy. There is nothing wrong and something right about an occasional indulgence.