ONTARIO, Canada – Chicken meat served at Subway restaurants may only contain about 50 percent chicken DNA.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had researchers at Trent University’s Wildlife Forensic DNA Laboratory test the chicken from several fast food chains, including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, A&W, Tim Hortons and Subway.
Chicken bought from a supermarket should test at 100 percent DNA, but meat that has been seasoned, marinated or prepared is expected to register at a lower percentage, according to the lab.
Most of the scores were between 85 and 90 percent chicken DNA. Except at Subway.
The oven roasted chicken scored 53.6 percent chicken DNA and the Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki (chicken strips) had just 42.8 percent chicken DNA, according to the CBC Marketplace investigation.
“Subway’s results were such an outlier that the team decided to test them again, biopsying five new oven roasted chicken pieces, and five new orders of chicken strips,” CBC News stated.
So what else is in the meat? According to the DNA testing, it’s soy.
However, Subway Canada issued a statement saying they “cannot confirm the veracity of the results of the lab testing.”
“However, we are concerned by the alleged findings you cite with respect to the proportion of soy content,” the CBC quoted Subway as stating. “Our chicken strips and oven roasted chicken contain 1% or less of soy protein. We use this ingredient in these products as a means to help stabilize the texture and moisture.”
“All of our chicken items are made from 100% white meat chicken which is marinated, oven roasted and grilled. We tested our chicken products recently for nutritional and quality attributes and found it met our food quality standards,” the statement continues. “We will look into this again with our supplier to ensure that the chicken is meeting the high standard we set for all of our menu items and ingredients.”
