Okay, so I ate at Subway. Here's the thing, though, I don't feel guilty about eating at Subway. Is it because of their health conscious branding? Hmm, could be.
As healthy a place as everyone thinks it is, once you grab the Salt & Vinegar Lay's, large Coke, and ask them to slather on the mayonnaise, it's not quite the healthy dining experience you imagined as you were standing in line. (Which is an interesting thought, maybe they should tell you how many average calories your burn standing and watching them make sandwiches.)
Regardless, I have to applaud them, again, for being on the forefront of the Good for You revolution. If Subway keeps marketing the healthy aspects of their food, the media will automatically supply them with all the free press they need to drive customers through their door (see countless Obesity in America articles, Fast Food Nation, Super Size Me, and the just released FDA study).
When I walked in today, the standee out front and signage promoted their newest healthy offering for kids: sliced apples and low-fat milk instead of chips and soda to accompany the sandwich. Of course, as a parent, you may have to physically force the apples into them, which is not the case with Flamin' Hot Cheetos, but that's your own issue.
Subway also sponsors events that people actually participate in rather than watching in their living room, like Little League Baseball and Triathlons, and is a national sponsor of the American Heart Association's Heart Walks. Not to mention they have a Healthy Living page on their site and heavily promote their "Under 6 Grams of Fat" of sandwiches. (Maybe "heavily" isn't the best word there.)
You've got to admit, almost all their branding points to health consciousness.
They've done their part.
Now if I can just figure out how to just say no to mayo I'll be set.
Subway sounds healthy, but there's just one huge problem.
Their chicken ain't so healthy. The latest issue of Fast Company talks about the char marks that sell chicken - chicken that is not exactly cooked on the grill.
These fast food companies (including places like Panera) plump up their chicken by injecting a mixture of sugar water, beef fat and other tasties that account for 20% of the weight of the chicken, then cook the chicken with a convection oven (it takes less weight off the chicken than putting fake grill marks on it before freezing it - the charmarks sell better.
I was so disappointed - I may never eat at any fast food place again. Check it out...
Jim - that's really interesting information, but I'm really not so surprised (and really only because I read Fast Food Nation. You should pick it up if you haven't already).
The way these industries are set up to lower fat and move product make for not such a pure ingredients. But the fact remains many of their sandwiches are under 6 grams of fat and move a ton of salads, which is healthy as well. Wouldn't you agree that Subway is still healthier than 95% of the fast food chains out there? Look at the competition: McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Jack in the Box, KFC... none of them hitting healthy marks in my book. So, Subway has cut the fat, but now they need to move toward a more pure product, right? Maybe places like Whole Foods will push that envelope so Subway will follow suit.
I like to eat well, and yes, I'm not crazy about them injecting sugar and beef into chicken, but I'm trying not to be that proverbial dentist who doesn't allow candy in his house.
Yes, I would guess they are better - but it inspires me to eat at home more often.
Good for you. Sounds like you'd get along well with my wife, who'll never set food in a fast food place!