What is with the smell at Subway??

Question

I forgot my lunch today. Needed something cheap, quick and healthy. The closest option to my office that fits these three things is Subway so I ran down there.

And remembered why I never want to go there.

The smell. THE SMELL!!

When I tell other people I won't eat there because of the smell they look at me like I'm nuts. I can't be the only one though...EVERY Subway I've ever been to - in whatever state - has smelled the same.

Why?? For a place that focuses on "fresh" ingredients, what is making that smell?? I don't even know how to describe it other than: ick!

Answer

Ugh...I worked in a shop next to a Subway for a while and every day I walked out of there smelling like Subway. I can't even think about eating it now.

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It's that horrible bread. I call it "air bread". And their soda tastes like bubble gum.

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I think it's something in the bread. But not a good bakery smell which I normally enjoy. I totally know what you mean.

I can't eat at Subway ever since my honeymoon when we stopped for lunch there on the way to go reef fishing. Tiny town in the Florida Keys with few options. Nearly everyone on the boat got sea sick. I can't even think about their sandwiches without feeling queasy. No big loss.

Answer

My boyfriend refuses to eat there for that same reason.

I find it oddly comforting. [weird, i know]

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Yep; I'm with you! Some sort of funky not-in-a-good-way yeast smell.

I'm developing a similar feeling about Cosi after standing in line at the drugstore behind a particularly disgusting Cosi-uniformed employee who was drenched with sweat and smelling faintly of the vinaigrette they put on my standard order, the tuna-cheddar sandwich ...

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Oh my gosh, that smell!!! Don't remind me! I hate it. I think it probably does have to do with the bread. But I've never smelled anything like it from any other cheap bread. The smell gets on you too. I was in there for like 2 hr once (don't ask) and I could smell Subway on my clothes and skin for the rest of the day. It's so amazing. I used to live across the street from a really cheapy bakery and the smell was heavenly. I don't know how Subway does it.
And now I've lost my appetite.

Answer

ziggylu - it's marketing strategy, it's supposed to smell like a New York subway! Just kidding ~ hasn't bothered me before, but now it probably will!

I cannot stand the smell of 7-11's and other quickie marts- ugh, must they alway smell like expired hotdogs and vomit?!

Answer

As someone who worked in a Subway during my youth I think I can tell you.

I'm pretty sure it isn't the bread...
...it is all the chemical preservative liquid the meats come packed in.

The smell was overwhelming and VERY hard to get off after a shift.
The very thought of it makes my eye twicth.

Answer

Really weird. The Sub-Way that I have to pass coming and going from the office I work in when in Washington, DC, stinks and can't be avoided because the restaurant is on the ground floor of the building. I don't think its the bread--something worse.

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I think its Jared on a treadmill sweating off the pounds in the back of the restaurant.

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I went there today and smelled bread cooking smelled good just wish they could tell be which meats had pork in them cause I don't eat pork the lady there didn't know and started asking the customers.So I left and went home to cook a Michaelangelo's Lasagna.

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I must confess, that's what I had for "dinner" tonight after working from 6am-8:30pm...thank goodness the one by my house dose NOT have the smell but I have smelled that stank in others and lost my appetite...there are two that do not have the funk-stank-one in Studio City, CA where the SAG/AFTRA Credit Union used to be and one in Glendale CA in a Ralphs parking lot on North Verdugo...these two also have very nice people working in them which is almost shocking like you're gonna be on some hidden camera show since most Subways usually have some sullen, bitter, greasy people working in them.

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A friend of mine that worked at a Subway told me that if a customer came in just prior to closing time and requested all of the items on their sandwich they were treated to the "agregados" or what was left in the catch trays from all the other subs made earlier. That little nugget was enough for me!

Answer

Well I'm glad to know I"m not the only one! My husband thinks I'm crazy...I made him read this to prove I'm not!

I wouldn't be surprised it were the preservatives. That would also explain why both the turkey and the roast beef sandwiches taste identical to me!

Answer

I don't think that its the bread. I think its the raw onions sitting around. I can't STAND the smell. And its not just Subway...its any sub shop. There is a Port of Subs (local chain) near my office...and sometimes its the only place for a quick bite. But I ALWAYS get it to go. 

There is a local Pho place that shares quarters with a sub shop here in Reno (sort of a mini-food court. I wouldn't even THINK of eating there because of the smell....even though I like Pho.

And the worst is the Baskin Robbins near my house that shares quarters with a sub shop.

Answer

There are a number of smells common to Subway. Unfortunately, the kids on my daughter's softball team are often condemned to eat Subway versus the fast food of the greasy variety when we are on the road, so I get to try a new Subway every weekend (lucky me). First, there is the overpowering yeasty odor from the bread that is constantly proofing in the place prior to baking. I think that is one of the strongest odors. The meats are allegedly not held in preservatives, so let's give them the benefit of the doubt here. They just seem to taste like supermarket sale-quality deli meats to me. I think the most notorious smells are in the dressings -- it's the familiar "hoagie" smell of onions, vinegar and garlic that seems to permeate the restaurant at times and all those who eat the stuff dressed to the max. Anyone who has ever lived near Philly will recognize it. If you eat a fully dressed hoagie, you need to take a shower afterward because the smell ends up in your hair, on your face and on your clothes. I think that is the funky "BO" aroma everyone is complaining about, but it could be a combination of the hoagie dressing, onions and the yeast causing the bread to rise.

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Oh my goodness-Have never eatern at a subway, and this thread has me convinces not to!! But- a small part of me wants to find a local subway and pop my head just to understand!

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I too know what you mean. Figured that it was something to to with the bread.

meandmyfork.blogspot.com

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I also think that it's the bread. If you read the ingredient lists for their breads on their websites, they're unlike any self-respecting bakery that you'll ever come across; I wouldn't stoop to call the end result "bread". Some of them even have high MSG ingredients like autolyzed yeast extract and hydrolyzed proteins in them. Who uses those in simple baked goods unless they contain meat? Abysmal.

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I guess Fred DeLuca the Subway founder would call it the smell of money - it made him a billionaire!

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It's the bread baking. Nothing more.

I mean "bread" and "baking," of course.

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I heard that at all Subways there is a time capsule with Jareds first burp from the first sub he ate on a commercial concealed in an airtight container within the capsule with a few drops of the meat preservative there was a reaction and the burp gas was released and has permeated the walls and perimeter of Subways all over the world for an area of 1 city block.Now come on people get real!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer

OMG, this might be one of the funniest threads ever...I was CRYING I was laughing so hard.

No one understands why I cannot stand subway...I actually have almost shunned all sandwiches because of some bad experiences at subway. I also heard a TERRIBLE story about what a kid in my high school did to the tuna salad one day in the walk-in, and I have never felt the same about subway since.

I do recall some broke/vegetarian-ish years where the (at the time) $1.99 veggie sub got me through some tough times.

I think people who care little about food and taste/quality but just are hungry and are really trying to be healthy eat there because it's a no-brainer. But I can't see actively seeking it out!

Answer

I thought it was just me too! Re-visiting a childhood memory of that great tourist-trap, the Shell Factory in Ft Myers Fl a few years ago was completely destroyed by THAT smell! Why oh why they put a Subway in there, I'll never understand. To me it smelled like they were heating frozen pizzas with the plastic wrap still on them. Icky, bread, plastic & cheese. I was so nauseous from THAT SMELL I had to wait outside!

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Thinking about this, I feel very sorry for the poor folks who work there. They could easily end up like the man in that dmb song Big Eyed Fish (if you know the song, you know what I'm talking about).

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Yeah, I've always wondered about that smell . . .

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I went into a cell phone store today and the whole room smelled exactly like Subway. I went back in a few hours later and the smell was still there, so I finally asked, and sure enough, one of the employees had a sandwich for lunch earlier. I can't believe it. One sandwich made the entire room smell for hours!

Answer

There's alot I'm embarrassed about here, but anyway, on the morning on the Fourth of July, my BF and I were shopping at Walmart and from the time we walked in we were enveloped in this quasi yummy smell of pizza, you know, the yeast, tomatoey sauce, cheese. Even though we had just finished brekkie at Mitzel's (The Chain That Doesn't Suck, Usually), after our shopping we followed our noses to the Subway outlet in the WM. They had big signs advertising their new pizzas. Having heard about them on CH, I told my BF we needed to take one for the team. After all, if it was disgusting after one bite, we didn't need to finish it. We never even got that far. After being ignored by the two employees, we gained their attention by asking if we could order a cheese pizza. I kid you not, she reached into a freezer and pulled out a cellophane entombed frozen pie. We cancelled and left.

Answer

I used to own a Subway. I can tell you it's the smell of the dough rising in the proofer....plus the evaporated olive oil and vinegar used on the sandwiches. Although it was a money-printing machine, glad those days were over.

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Ziggylu, I am so happy to read your post cause a lot of ppl never understand what I mean on "I do not want to go cause ill have the smell stuck to my clotsh and hair all day". The only times I actually go into a subway is on the weekends when I can change my cloths or stay outside for a long time! My hsuband loves it and dont get me wrong I like their sandwiches. But geeeeeez the smell that you get from walking into the establishment is something extremely annoying.

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Hmm ...I guess it depends if I'm really hungry or not because sometimes I think it smells kinda yummy. However on hot humid days when NYC already stinks, walking by a Subway can be overwhelming.

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It's the smell of mediocrity.

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SMELL is the strongest of the senses, strong in that it is the sense most likely to trigger memory, and to be remembered. This is SO true about subway--- I used to go there all the time during my Freshman year of college---there was one right next door, and being a college student, it was one of many depressing options. I usually stuck to a turkey sandwich, but on "special occasions" would treat myself to a meatball sub. I dont even want to think what was in any of that meat!

Recently I was sick and lost my appetite, which would lead me to pretty much satisfy any random craving i'd have, because at least it would indicate that I was hungry. All of a sudden, i WANTED subway, a turkey sandwich with that honey mustard. Upon entering, it was amazing, i was TRANSPORTED by that smell back to freshman year of college. It was actually a pleasant experience remembering all the fun, unhealthy times I had had. But I was shocked at how quickly it brought me back, it truly is a powerful aroma!

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This post seems to be about a year too late but... We love Subway but the smell has been horrible. It used to smell good like fresh bread. I believe it all started when they began toasting the sandwhiches, or it could be one of their newer specialty breads. Anyways, they need to fix it. We do not eat in the stores anymore!

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I have joined this dodgy website - no automatic return to this thread; couldn't even direct me to this thread when I specified "smell in Subway" - so I can tell you OMG I agree. Except that I have never been tempted to step into a Subway, because healthy it ain't - healthy food does not smell like decaying bodies. Also because it might as well have a big sign up in every outlet saying: "The animals who went into this food had a really, really terrible life, and we don't care."

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The Subways located in Lucy's Lavanderias smell more like detergent and bounce.

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This week on the Daily Show: "You don't normally see it on camera, but it smells like a loaf of bread took a s**t." - Jon Stewart on the Subway restaurant inside the studio http://on.cc.com/n6i4Oj

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I've gone to dozens of Subways and visit the one near me one a month or so, and I'm always baffled when people mention the "Subway stench". I have no idea what they're talking about. I smell bread being baked, vegetables, the smell of recently-toasted subs, and occasionally cleaning products... is that what folks are smelling? I'd much rather smell those things than the stench of old hot oil inside McDonald's.

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Blog post on Subway's ingredients in its ingredients:

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/06/12/food-babe-investigates-is-subway-real-food/

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I was in Taiwan for a month in October and was **shocked** to discover that That Dreaded Subway Smell DOES NOT EXIST at all the locations I saw in Taiwan!

I have no idea why.

Mr Taster

Answer

It smells because it's where food goes to die...

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It's funny but I never gave it much thought until this thread, but I can say I can relate. I really stopped going to Subway many years ago when someone pointed out to me how does the countries largest chain of sandwich/subs, not have one slicer in any of their stores. That fact really turned me off to the entire concept of sandwiches from places like that.

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i have worked in many restaurants for over 30 years and i have always been the go to for identifying smells, the "nose that knows" and subways do smell, in fact they all smell the same, even when entering a giant big box store i can smell the stench from subway, yes it does smell like old hot vomit, but the kicker is.... 
OPEN UP A NUMBER TEN CAN OF MUSHROOMS AND THERE'S YOUR SMELL, that's what all subways smell like to me, it's the only thing i can pair it with

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That smell is beyond vile.

But to some it smells wonderful.

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I emailed Kenji from Serious Eats (and formerly from America's Test Kitchen) about this. His best guess is that it's a proprietary fragrance that is added to the dough shipped to American restaurants as a kind of "scent trademark".

Based upon my recent experience in Taiwan, it makes sense that this could possibly be the case- if it had to do strictly with the fermentation of the yeast, one would think the odor would exist uniformly.

Odor-free Subways in Taiwan:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/416124#8494518

Mr Taster

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I think it's just the lingering odors of meat, and veggies.

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Worst smell ever and even if you walk by you can smell it in your hair a hour later. The Home Depot near me put it in the front and I can barley shop there. Worst smell ever.

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Well, Now i think we have the answer

http://metro.co.uk/2014/03/18/was-it-a-footlong-subway-worker-caught-drying-her-wet-socks-in-bread-oven-4642098/

Answer

it's the meat they use.
if you are ever around when they first cut open the package of any of the meats, you will smell the strongest stench.

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I have no problem with the smell of yeast or baking bread, and that's all Subway has ever smelled like to me.

Sometimes it smells heavily like cleaning products, because they've just mopped. I'm OK with that.

I've noticed that the Subways I go to have a heavy glass cover that they lower over the meat and veggies in between customers. Maybe that's why it doesn't smell like meat?

Frankly, the deli counter at my local deli has more of a 'stench' than any Subway I know of.

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Ugh. Subway's the worst. It smells like butt.

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I recall watching some documentary show years ago that explained how the major fast food chains such as McDonalds and Burger King employ people to develop scents which are added to their food to give them their signature smells. One of the companies that does this is called International Flavors & Fragrances. I'm not sure though if McDonald's uses them, or SubWay for that matter, but I suspect Subway is using something along these lines in their bread to give them their distinct smell. They likely do it to lure people in and make them hungry as they are walking by, in places such as mall food courts or airports. Even casinos in vegas purposefully scent the air in their establishments with specific scents which purportedly entice people to stay and gamble.

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