Two California Women File Lawsuit Against Subway Claiming Restaurant Uses Fake Tuna In Sandwiches

A lawsuit claims Subway‘s tuna doesn’t actually have tuna in it.

We already went through with the yoga mat situation, Subway. Now the tuna allegedly isn’t really tuna?? That is what two California women say in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, claiming the popular deli restaurant’s tuna sandwich actually contains “scintilla” of the fish. The women say the restaurant scammed them with false advertisements, and now they want $5 million in damages.

Alameda County, Calif. residents Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin, filed their lawsuit against the restaurant last week. In it, they stated they ordered tuna from Subway as early as last year from locations near their home. The New York Post reports the lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of California.

The legal document states that “independent testing has repeatedly affirmed, the products are made from anything but tuna.” It goes on to say that Subway’s tuna is actually “made from a mixture of various concoctions that do not constitute tuna, yet have been blended together by defendants to imitate the appearance of tuna.” The filing alleges Subway has continued to use the fake tuna because it costs less than real tuna.

“Aware that consumers place a heightened value on tuna as an ingredient, defendants deliberately make false and misleading claims about the composition of the products to increase profits at the expense of unsuspecting buyers,” the suit states. The women say they were “were tricked into buying food items that wholly lacked the ingredient they reasonably thought they were purchasing.” The women said they would have never purchased Subway’s tuna or would have bought it for a lower price.

The lawsuit states the restaurant should be held responsible for fraud, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment against the company. In addition, the women would like the judge to grant the ability to turn their lawsuit into a class-action suit so that others can “seek reimbursement of the premium” they paid “due to defendants’ false and deceptive representations about the composition and ingredients of the products.”

In response, a Subway spokesperson said the women’s claims are “baseless” and “frivolous,” adding that they “are being pursued without adequate investigation.” “There simply is no truth to the allegations in the complaint that was filed in California,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Subway delivers 100% cooked tuna to its restaurants, which is mixed with mayonnaise and used in freshly made sandwiches, wraps, and salads that are served to and enjoyed by our guests.”

The restaurant states the allegations “threaten to damage our franchisees, small business owners who work tirelessly to uphold the high standards that Subway sets for all of its products, including its tuna.” The rep continued, saying, “Unfortunately, this lawsuit is part of a trend in which the named plaintiffs’ attorneys have been targeting the food industry in an effort to make a name for themselves in that space.”