This Subway Meatball Isn't For Kids!

It’s great that everyone’s concerned about keeping kids healthy and all, but Jay says the woman working at his local Subway put her foot down on his request for a meatball sandwich for his kid. He says she told him, “You can get ham or turkey but no meatball.” Kids don’t need meatballs!

He writes:

I’m not sure if I should even bother complaining to any higher ups on this, but I figured I would fire this over to you guys and see what you think.

[Sunday] afternoon my wife, daughter (age 3), and I went to a local WalMart to pick up some things. While there, we decided to have some food at the Subway that’s located in the store. My wife placed her order and we decided to simply ask if they could just give my daughter a meatball with no bread (she’s not a huge fan of bread so we figure why let her waste it). They tell us they cannot do that and that all meat has to be put on bread. Well, ok. So we ask for a kid sized meatball sub. The girl behind the counter (who had been hurrying my wife with her order, even though she wasn’t taking very long) started lecturing us that “meatballs weren’t healthy for kids and Subway only makes healthy sandwiches for kids! You can get ham or turkey but no meatball. Meatball subs are not healthy for kids!”. At this point, the line was growing long and I really didn’t have the energy to fight this. I asked for a ham and cheese kid sub with only light mayo (gotta be healthy!). They make the sandwich while the girl behind the register gives us apples for a side and then asks if she wants chocolate milk. We take the milk and then she offers cookies. I thought Subway wanted kids to be healthy? So we take our food, sit down, and find out they put lettuce and tomato but no mayo.

So when does Subway have the right to deny a child a sub? Is a meatball really less healthy than some of the other stuff they were trying to offer (chocolate milk, cookies)? And are children really only allowed a choice of two sandwiches at all Subway locations?

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.