Subway has released a statement in regards to the New York Times report alleging that the Tuna Sub does not contain “amplifiable tuna DNA.”
Speaking to FOX Business, the fast food franchise called the claims “baseless” and “threatening” to its business. “A recent New York Times report indicates that DNA testing is an unreliable methodology for identifying processed tuna,” a spokesperson for Subway said. “This report supports and reflects the position that Subway has taken in relation to a meritless lawsuit filed in California and with respect to DNA testing as a means to identify cooked proteins. DNA testing is simply not a reliable way to identify denatured proteins, like Subway’s tuna, which was cooked before it was tested.”
The original New York Times report noted that from the 60 inches of Subway’s tuna sandwiches (from three separate locations in Los Angeles) that were investigated by the lab, none of them identified tuna DNA and could not distinguish what fish was used. “No amplifiable tuna DNA was present in the sample and so we obtained no amplification products from the DNA. Therefore, we cannot identify the species,” the report read.
A spokesperson from the lab that conducted the test said, “There’s two conclusions. One, it’s so heavily processed that whatever we could pull out, we couldn’t make an identification. Or we got some and there’s just nothing there that’s tuna.” It is also interesting to note that experts also point out that the protein could also be degraded after being cooked making it difficult to distinguish.
Elsewhere in food and beverage, Starbucks Japan is releasing 47 new flavors for each prefecture in celebration of its 25th anniversary.
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