Irish Court: Subway’s Sandwich Bread is Not Legally Bread

The Supreme Court has ruled that Subway’s bread doesn’t meet the legal definition of bread or even food. Now it’s the Supreme Court of Ireland, but still. The court ruled that all six varieties of bread used in Subway’s sandwiches are far too sugary to officially qualify as bread. It found that Subway bread had a sugar content equivalent to 10% of the weight of the flour in the dough which means it doesn’t qualify for a value-added tax exemption. Ireland’s Value-Added Tax Act states that for a baked good to be exempt from the tax, ingredients like sugar and fat should not exceed 2% of the flour’s weight. So, Subway bread doesn’t meet the legal definition of “bread,” or indeed “food” under the relevant law. The ruling was the result of a Subway franchise owner who sought a VAT refund on the basis that takeout sandwiches qualified as a “staple food.”