Is Subway ethical?
Our research highlights several ethical issues with Subway, including poor animal welfare policies, weak climate action, and accusations of migrant-workers’ rights abuses at its franchise restaurants.
Below we outline some of these issues. To see the full detailed stories, and Subway’s overall ethical rating, please sign in or subscribe.
Subway’s weak animal welfare policies
In December 2025, Ethical Consumer assessed Subway’s animal welfare policies.
The company had published vague commitments in support of animal welfare, for example stating that it "aspires" to have animal supply chains which are "considerate of animal welfare concerns". However, it had not published specific commitments covering its global supply chains.
Subway therefore scored very poorly in Ethical Consumer’s rating overall.
Use of unsustainable palm oil
When Ethical Consumer rated Subway in December 2025, the company’s website stated that it had used palm oil certified by the largest accreditor the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) for its European products since 2015. However, as of August 2026, the page could be found on the site, and it was not listed on the accreditor’s website as a member.
While RSPO is the predominant certifier for palm oil worldwide, its standards vary greatly, depending what sourcing approach companies choose. No reporting could be found explaining Subway’s sourcing approach – meaning that the robustness of the RSPO mechanisms used was unclear.
Subway scored very poorly in Ethical Consumer’s palm oil rating overall.
Subway franchises accused of exploiting migrant workers
Subway has faced multiple accusations over workers’ rights violations.
In 2024, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office launched an investigation into seven Subway franchises, where mostly migrant workers alleged that they had been paid well-below the minimum wage, or sometimes not paid at all. One worker told NBC News that he had been unable to use the toilet during his 10-hour days.
The couple who owned the franchises didn’t respond to NBC’s requests for comment.
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Labour also investigated a number of Subway franchises in the Bay Area, and found that they hired workers as young as 14 and 15.The owners did not always pay regular wages, and withheld tips from the workers. The department ordered the Subway restaurants to pay employees nearly $1 million in back wages and damages.
NBC noted: “Previous lawsuits and investigations highlight what advocates say is a pattern of abuse against immigrant workers at Subway franchises nationwide.”
Weak climate action
Ethical Consumer viewed the sustainability pages of the Subway website, for information on its action on climate change.
The company described some actions that it had taken, such as improving energy efficiency in its restaurants. However, it did not discuss the emissions from its meat and dairy supply chain, despite the fact they are a major ingredient for the company. Livestock accounts for over 14% of all emissions worldwide.
Subway did not appear to have reduced its emissions in line with vital international climate goals to limit global heating. Nor did it appear to have set targets to do so in the future.
Subway scored extremely poorly in Ethical Consumer’s climate rating overall.
Subway owner active in tax havens
Subway is owned by the private equity firm Roark Capital Group Inc. In December 2025, Ethical Consumer searched for information about the Roark Capital’s tax practices and found that it owned multiple subsidiaries in the Netherlands, a known tax haven.
The subsidiaries did not appear to be serving the local population, and were of a type that is particularly high risk for tax avoidance purposes.
Subway had published a UK Tax Strategy, which stated: “The UK Entities do not have prescribed levels of risk that they are prepared to accept in relation to tax, but rather evaluate positions on a case-by-case basis.” The company did not provide an explanation for the subsidiaries, nor did it commit not to engage in tax avoidance.
It therefore received a poor score in Ethical Consumer’s tax conduct rating overall.
The text above was written in August 2026, and most research was conducted in December 2025.