Subway 50 per cent chicken claim 'false'

Subway says claims its chicken products are only half chicken are false and misleading. Photo / 123RF

Subway has hit back at claims its oven roasted chicken is only half chicken, saying the claim is false.

Canada's CBC News reported DNA tests on six different takeaway chicken meals found Subway's Oven Roasted Chicken was only 50 per cent chicken.

When contacted, a spokesperson for Subway said the data was false and the company was insisting on a full retraction.

"The accusations made by CBC Marketplace about the content of our chicken are absolutely false and misleading," the spokesperson said.

"We use 100 per cent chicken that is combined with seasoning, marinated and delivered to our stores as a finished, cooked product. We have advised them of our strong objections," he said.

"We do not know how they produced such unreliable and factually incorrect data, but we are insisting on a full retraction. This report is wrong and it must be corrected, "

"The stunningly flawed test by Marketplace is a tremendous disservice to our customers," Subway President and chief executive Suzanne Greco said in a statement.

"The safety, quality and integrity of our food is the foundation of our business. That's why we took extra caution to test and retest the chicken. Our customers can have confidence in our food. The allegation that our chicken is only 50% chicken is 100% wrong," Greco said.

Subway Australia and New Zealand use different suppliers to those in Canada, but the company was quick to reassure customers that worldwide its chicken was pure.

According to tests by Trent University's Wildlife Forensic DNA Laboratory in Canada, the sandwich chain's Oven Roasted Chicken patties were on average 53.6 per cent chicken, and the Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki strips were just 42.8 per cent.

The researchers said it was almost impossible for any of the samples to be 100 per cent chicken because seasoning and processing added other ingredients.

Subway's results were such an outlier from the other samples that the researchers said they tested them twice with the same results.