Subway to Ensure Your Footlong is 12 Inches

Customers who order the large sandwich at Subway won’t have to simply trust that they’re getting the full footlong, or bring a travel ruler in their pocket to confirm it.

Apparently, those Footlongs weren’t always measuring up to the full 12 inches every time.

Last week, a judge approved a settlement of a class-action suit against Subway and its parent company Doctor’s Associates, requiring Subway to “institute practices for at least four years to ensure its bread is at least 12 inches long,” reports the Associated Press.

The suit came about after an Australian teen posted an image of his sandwich, showing it was only 11 inches, which prompted the New York Post to issue a report that four out of seven Footlongs in New York were between 11 and 11.5 inches.

In a statement, Subway said it was pleased that there was no wrongdoing found on its part, and that it had already taken steps to ensure that customers are getting the size sandwich they ordered, reports the AP.

Each of the 10 representatives in the lawsuit received $500, and $520,000 was approved for attorney fees, but no claims were awarded to potential members of the class, reports The Consumerist. The co-lead attorney for the class said it was difficult to prove the monetary damages, because all of the evidence had been eaten.

Subway’s bread is thawed from frozen dough sticks and stretched for baking.

Subway started in 1964, growing to 16 operating throughout Connecticut by 1974, when owners decided to offer it as a franchise. Subway now has 44,000 locations throughout the world.

In the settlement, it is also indicated that the amount of meat and cheese on each sandwich is standardized. In addition to the dough arriving frozen and stretched, and that a “vast majority” of footlongs were determined to be at least 12 inches, the judge found the case “quite weak,” reports Forbes Magazine.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons