Are Subway Sandwiches Really Getting Smaller? Diners Are Noticing The Difference

Subway was once the king of the value chain, best known for its oversized sandwiches. Positioned as a quick-service, but still health-conscious, alternative to McDonalds or KFC, they've been a prominent go-to for cold cut lovers everywhere. But its image as a high-value establishment has been tarnished in recent years due to accusations the chain has been skimping on ingredients and using lower-quality components. A lawsuit even accused Subway's famous footlongs of falling short of being a full 12 inches long. Though the brand survived a wave of further jurisprudence inspired by that apparent revelation, controversy has continued to swirl around its portion sizes ever since. To wit, customers are now taking Subway to task for making skinnier sandwiches for an ever-increasing price tag.

A wave of social media posts claim the sandwiches have lost their width, with folks using their fingers and objects like car keys to show the difference in size between what they were expecting and what they received. Many are blaming shrinkflation for the sudden change in substance. Typical posts often carp that the chain changed the width of its bread to avoid changing the length and  drawing more accusations of false advertising. "I have noticed that at Subway, since they sell their sandwiches based on inches, they cannot cut down on the length so what they did was reduce the width of the bread," a commenter on the Bad Customer Service T&T Facebook group said. "Have you seen how thin and flat the bread is at Subway?"

Are Subway's sandwiches actually shrinking? It seems to be a matter of perspective for many customers. While some posters to the r/subway subreddit think their clubs and B.M.Ts are getting smaller, other members feel that sandwich size comes down to whoever made your meal. "Subway sandwiches have not changed, bread size is extremely dependent on the worker who made the bread. If you get someone bad at bread you get bad bread sorry this happened," said one user. 

A number of subreddit goers also declared that the problem seems to be underproofing of the bread, making it seem smaller in certain cases. Others pointed out operational flaws inherent in the photographic examples posted up by various users. "Not only did they not proof that bread long enough, they also forgot to score it. Don't see no score marks on that bread," one person said of such a picture. 

But no matter the source, some Subway customers feel shortchanged, and they think sandwich girth is not the only shrinkflation at play. For instance, some claim that Subway's meatballs have gotten smaller. That's just one reason why some fast food devotees think that Subway costs too much these days.