THE SUBWAY SANDWICH THAT YOU CAN’T CALL A BREAD ROLL

THE world has been sinking its teeth into Subway sandwiches for more than half a century.

But you might not look at your meatball marinara quite the same way after a court decided its rolls are more like biscuits than bread.

Judges ruled that they are too sugary to be legally considered bread and should be categorised

The rolls should be subject to 13.5% tax

in the same way as other baked goods, such as biscuits.

The court found Subway’s white and wholegrain rolls were around 10% sugar – making t hem as s ugar y as t wo digestives.

The case in the Supreme Court came about after a Galway franchise of the takeaway giant argued about how the rolls should be taxed.

Bread is eligible for a zero rate VAT as it constitutes a ‘staple food’. But the VAT act states some ingredients in bread, such as sugar and fat, should not exceed 2% of the weight of flour in dough.

The rolls contained more than five times this amount.

Five judges considered the appeal and they concluded the rolls should be subject to tax at 13.5%.

Subway offers six types of rolls including: Italian white, I talian herbs and cheese, nine-grain wheat, hearty Italian, nine- grain multi- seed, and honey oat. They are the same over in the UK as they are in Ireland. Subway told the BBC yesterday: ‘Subway’s bread is, of course, bread.

‘Our guests return each day f or s andwiches made on bread that smells as good as it tastes.’

Subway was set up in 1965 by a 17-year-old American student who ploughed a $1,000 loan from a family friend into a sandwich store to help him pay his college fees.

The chain has since exploded in popularity with 44,000 franchises in 110 countries.