Subway has decided to sue Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Cbc, after it claimed its chicken was only 50 percent poultry. CBC claimed the rest of of it was filled with soybeans. The CBC made its claims last month. The fast-food chain is claiming $210 million in damages. Subway claims the allegations, made on CBC Marketplace, were defamatory. It also claimed they are completely false.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for Subway said they shared facts with CBC in regards to the quality of their chicken. The person said they expressed objections to the claims CBC made, but they did not issue a retraction.
The spokesperson added that their top priority is serving their customers with high-quality food and they want to see the report corrected.
CBC has received notice of the lawsuit
CBC is aware of the lawsuit because it received noticed of it. However, CBC said it wasn't served with Subway's claims. The company added that they believe their journalism is sound and they have seen nothing that should make them change their position on the issue.
Trent University in Ontario carried out the DNA tests that CBC Marketplace cited. One Subway franchisee was not happy with the whole thing. Bob Grewal said researchers told officials at Subway that CBC twisted the facts. Gewal feels that CBC sideswiped the company.
He said CBC purposely did that to Subway just to drive ratings. Gewal said that since the report was published, sales have been on the decline.
Subway conducted their own testing
Subway carried out their own testing. They said two independent tests confirmed that the meat they use is chicken. Suzanne Greco, CEO of Subway, released a statement saying that the allegation CBC made was false.
The tests were carried out by Elisa Technologies in Florida and Maxxam Analytics in Canada. They used a process to quantify how much soy was in the chicken at Subway. The labs came to the conclusion that 1% soy protein was presented in the samples. Subway said this was because spices and marinades are used on it.
