Irish Court Rules Subway Bread Not Bread

Although Subway bread has been boasted to be baked fresh daily for decades, that will no longer be the case in Ireland.

In an Ireland Supreme Court judgment ruling, bread served at Subway was determined to not legally be bread because of its high sugar content. 

According to the Court, the Ireland Value-Added Tax (VAT) Act of 1972 determines certain foods as staple foods and other foods as “more discretionary indulgences”, therefore Subway bread has been ruled to not be bread but instead a sugary baked good so will be taxed as such, The Guardian reported.

The case was filed by the chain’s franchisee Bookfinders Ltd., which asserted bread at Subway is a staple and should be exempt from value-added tax, according to ABC News.

In 2006, Revenue Commissioners refused to give Subway a VAT refund for 2004 and 2005 payments. Bookfinders argued that the chain was entitled to receive VAT payments back because Subway bread is a staple food. If Subway bread was classified as a staple food, the chain would save money. 

On 29 September, five Irish Supreme Court judges said Subway bread’s sugar content is “five times higher” than what Ireland’s Value-Added Tax Act of 1972 dictates for bread and “is too sugary to meet the legal definition of bread and therefore cannot be called a staple food,” according to ABC News.

“The argument depends on the acceptance of the prior contention that the Subway heated sandwich contains ‘bread’ as defined, and therefore can be said to be food for the purposes of the Second Schedule rather than confectionary. Since that argument has been rejected, this subsidiary argument must fail,” the court’s judgment read.

All of the bread at Subway contains a sugar content of approximately 10% of the weight of the flour in the dough. According to Subway’s website, the hearty Italian, honey oat, Italian, Italian herbs and cheese, nine-grain multiseed, nine-grain wheat and white bread all contain upward of 10% sugar.

Ireland’s VAT Act of 1972 distinguishes staple foods such as bread, tea, milk, meat and eggs and does not tax them. But nonstaple, “indulgence” foods such as ice cream, chocolate, crisps and popcorn are taxed.

The VAT Act disproved bread at Subway is a staple food, because according to a strict condition of the law, the sugar in bread “shall not exceed 2% of the weight of flour included in the dough,” according to The Guardian. 

According to the Associated Press, the Ireland Supreme Court judges rejected Subway’s appeal, saying, “There is no dispute that the bread supplied by Subway in its heated sandwiches has a sugar content of 10% of the weight of the flour included in the dough, and thus exceeds the 2% specified.”

In essence, according to Irish law, bread at Subway is legally a baked good or sugary confection. But Subway disagrees with the court’s ruling.

“Subway’s bread is, of course, bread. We have been baking fresh bread in our restaurants for more than three decades and our guests return each day for sandwiches made on bread that smells as good as it tastes,” the chain wrote in an email, according to the Associated Press.

Subway said it is reviewing the Irish court’s ruling, and added that the Irish law, which was modernised in 2012, is outdated.

Subway bread has previously been the source of speculation and doubts.

Years ago, Subway bread was highlighted as containing a chemical ingredient used in manufacturing yoga mats and other products, according to a CBS News report. A food blogger petitioned to have bread at Subway free of this chemical, and the petition sparked bad publicity for the chain.

Subway removed the chemical from its bread in 2014. 

Are you a Subway fan? Do you think Ireland’s tax law is outdated or do you think Subway should reduce the amount of sugar in its bread? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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