After lawsuit, Subway to ensure footlong sandwiches really are a foot long

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

last updated 1 March 2016

You can leave your measuring tape at home — Subway has agreed to take all of the steps necessary to make sure its footlong sandwiches aren't 11 inches, or even 11-and-a-half, but a full 12.

After a teenager shared a photo on Facebook in 2013 showing a footlong Subway sandwich measuring up to only 11 inches, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the chain. A judge granted the final approval to a settlement on Feb. 25, with Subway agreeing to spend the next four years taking measures to ensure that its bread is at least 12 inches long. Franchisees will also use tools to measure their bread, which arrives at individual Subway locations frozen.

After the dough sticks are thawed and stretched, they can change in size and shape. While the amount of meat and cheese placed on the bread is standard, the judge said that it's possible people are losing out on toppings when the bread is half-an-inch shorter, The Associated Press reports. But in practice, since people do watch as their sandwiches are assembled, they can ask for more items and "the bread does not affect the quantity of food the customer receives," the judge said. The 10 individuals in the suit will receive $500, but potential members of the class won't be receiving any money. "It was difficult to prove monetary damages, because everybody ate the evidence," said attorney Thomas Zimmerman.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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