Karen Collier and Kieran Jones
February 12, 2013
Herald Sun
THEY’RE the fast foods that are made to measure – but do they fit the bill?
Buy a Subway Footlong sub or pizza by the metre and you may be missing a mouthful.
And a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burger may be just that when uncooked, but a touch under by the time it leaves the hotplate.
Subway is sticking to its Footlong trademark despite complaints of customers being short-changed by undersized sandwiches.
An Aussie teen armed with a tape measure lit a worldwide social media fuse last month when he posted a picture on Facebook and complained his supposed 12-inch (30.48cm) sub was in fact below the mark at 11 inches (27.94cm).
The major chain is also the subject of a lawsuit in the US by two men alleging that it had stretched truth in advertising.
When the Herald Sun put it to the test this week in Melbourne, four out of five $7 Subway footlong subs came up short by 48mm to 1.98cm.
However, one was 1.02cm bigger than a foot, at 31.5cm.
Subway Systems Australia said in a statement: “We have redoubled our efforts to ensure consistency and correct length in every sandwich we serve.”
But a source noted slight variations could occur when fresh-baked soft bread was tightly wrapped.
An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission spokeswoman said misleading or deceptive conduct concerns might arise when consumers were “misled into error from representations used as part of the promotion of products or services”.
In Carlton, a $36 metre-long pizza ordered from Da Salvatore restaurant came divided in two boxes – and was 2cm shy of 100cm.
Da Salvatore owner Silvana Mercogliano said dough was stretched across 50cm trays before cooking.
“Once you cook it, it always shrinks a little bit from the tray but it’s pretty accurate,” she said.
In a separate experiment, three $4.70 McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers shed 3g to 13g by the time they reached the bun.
McDonald’s spokeswoman Skye Oxenham said patties were the correct weight before cooking.
“It’s important to note that like all meat the beef pattie shrinks when cooked,” she said.
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