A Subway worker revealed that what’s touted as an “Olive Oil Blend” at Subway restaurants uses ‘blend’ as a euphemism—with 90% of what’s in the bottle being something else entirely.
The video revealing just how little olive oil there is in Subway’s blend comes from TikToker Adrian Bridges (@skitdaddle_420), who drew more than 18,500 views to this behind-the-scenes video as of Monday.
Recorded at what appears to be a Subway sandwich artist station, Bridges shows a big plastic bottle of what’s clearly labeled with Subway branding and declaring itself to be an “Olive Oil Blend”—but also showing that it’s 90% canola oil and just 10% olive oil.
@skitdaddle_420 10% Olive oil???? 😯🤔😡🧐#subway #subwaysandwiches #oliveoil #health #not #yuck #oil #trick #stretching #food #foodie #fyp #fypシ ♬ original sound – Adrian Bridges
He says, “So all the money that Subway makes and they can’t give you 100% olive oil.”
Showing the empirical proof on the bottle, he emphasizes, “Come to find out they only put 10% olive oil and the rest is canola.”
Commenters weren’t as wowed as maybe the creator had hoped.
“It’s fast food,” one remarked. “Not home cooking or fine dining.”
“Noooo,” expressed another with just a hint of sarcasm. “My dreams down the drain.”
Someone else said, “Pure olive oil is at a record high right now. $40 a gallon.”
There’s some truth to that. Economic data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, dating back to 1990, shows current olive oil prices at a peak for the 33 years displayed, and an Aug. 2 report from Olive Oil Times indicates it could get worse for consumers before it gets better.
That article noted, “As production estimates remain low and future olive oil availability on the market is put into question, prices are expected to grow even more. A high level of inflation and increasing logistics and production costs further contribute to rising prices.”
Perhaps that caused one commenter to observe, “Wow 10% thought I’d be lower.”
But at least one person thought it was misleading, saying, “To me it’s weird they can call it olive oil blend at all. It’s more of a canola oil blend.”
And while several noted that the margins for franchise owners are so narrow that this ratio is understandable, the knowledge that this exists was enough for one commenter to remark, “Subway is barely food anymore.”
Another user said, “I can understand this for cooking but if they use 90% canola on my sandwich ima have a problem.”
That led Bridges to respond, “You know how many people I come across that ask for extra? [Now] the world knows.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Bridges via TikTok comment and to Subway via email.
