The Supreme Court of Ireland has ruled that the bread baked and sold at Subway cannot be legally defined as bread. The reason? It has too much sugar.
The ruling came in a tax dispute brought by Bookfinders Ltd., an Irish Subway franchisee, which argued that some of its takeaway products - including teas, coffees and heated sandwiches - were not liable for value-added tax.
A panel of judges rejected the appeal Tuesday, ruling that the bread sold by Subway contains too much sugar to be categorized as a “staple food,” which is not taxed.
“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,” the judgement read.
The judgment has stated that the law makes a distinction between “bread as a staple food” and “fancy baked goods.”
Subway disagreed with the characterization in a statement.
“Subway’s bread is, of course, bread,” the company said in an email. “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.”
What are your thoughts about this one?
(Image Credit: Cxshawx/ Wikimedia Commons)
Newest 3 Comments
Huuuuu, that's why I don't fancy Subways bread!!!#frenchbreadisthebest
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If a judge determines that a piece of baked good is not to be legally considered as bread but fulfills the requirements of a "pastry", this is to be acepted. Strictly speaking, Subway should be ordered to call these high sugar thingies "Brioche" not bread as in "...Give us this day our daily bread..." And by the way, the alegation that the recipie has been changed does not proof that the amount of sugar in it has been lowered to a bread standard..
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It's the same legal reasoning that preserved the status of tomatoes as a vegetable, despite being botanically a fruit. Basically, there are legal definitions for various food items for the purpose of assessing taxes or import duties, and which side of a division something falls on affects how and if the government collects those fees.
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