Dough! Subway sandwich bread is not legally bread, Irish court rules


Just trying to make a crust.

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Subway bread is not technically bread, at least not in Ireland. The Irish Supreme Court has ruled that the material contained in the subway sandwich contains too much sugar to be considered legal as bread.

As funny as these sounds are, it should be noted that this is a pretty arcane legal verdict. Naturally the subway sandwich is made from bread, but sometimes the court has to consider the ingredients of a food item in order to determine its status for tax purposes.

The ruling came after a subway franchise in Ireland tried to claim exemption from VAT, a sales tax that does not apply to key items. Tax law determines the legal definition of what counts as the main and should be exempt from tax so that the price is affordable to all.

To avoid taxes, the dough of the bread product must weigh less than 2% of the weight of the sugar flour. The content on the subway menu exceeds that limit by five times and therefore cannot be considered legal.

So who is hungry?