Subway sandwich bread ‘is not bread’ rules Irish court

The 'bread' served in Subway sandwiches is considered too sugary to be called bread in Ireland

Credit: ERIC PIERMONT /AFP

The Irish Supreme Court has ruled that the bread served by Subway in their heated sandwiches cannot legally be called bread, as the sugar content is too high.

Under the Irish Value-Added Tax Act of 1972, staple foods have a VAT rate of zero, while other baked goods are subject to taxation. 

Under ordinary circumstances, bread meets these criteria, but the bread served at Subway has a sugar content that is five times higher than permitted under the law. The purpose of the law is to differentiate bread from other baked goods, such as pastry.

Subway — an American fast food brand with shops in over 100 countries worldwide — was appealing this ruling to the Irish Supreme Court via a local franchisee, Bookfinders Ltd, who are based in Tuam, Co. Galway. 

This ruling encompasses all six types of bread served at Subway outlets in Ireland. 

“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 confectionery. Since that argument has been rejected, this subsidiary argument must fail,” the court ruled, dismissing Subway’s appeal.

Subway was seeking to overturn an original ruling, as having their 'bread' defined as bread would entitle them to a VAT rebate

Credit: Rafael Neddermeyer /Getty Images 

The 1972 act states that the weight of ingredients such as sugar, fat and bread improver must not exceed two per cent of the weight of flour in the dough. However, the bread served at Subway was found to contain a sugar content that was the equivalent to 10 per cent of the weight of the flour.

The appeal stems from a 2006 case when the Office of Revenue Commissioners, Dublin’s equivalent of HMRC, declined to provide Subway with a VAT refund on taxes collected from early 2004 to late 2005. They had been charged 9.2 per cent, but argued the rate should have been zero.

Subway had lost appeals at both the High Court and Court of Appeals levels, before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

In a statement, Subway told The Telegraph: "Subway’s bread is, of course, bread. We have been baking fresh bread in our stores for more than three decades and our guests return each day for sandwiches made on bread that smells as good as it tastes."

Subway is no stranger to controversy when it comes to the ingredients of their bread. In 2014, they agreed to remove the flour whitening agent azodicarbonamide from its baked goods. After an online petition and the social media campaign #NoWaySubway. 

Azodicarbonamide is currently outlawed for use in food in the EU and Australia, and is most commonly used to manufacture yoga mats.