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Sugar in Bread

Posted: October 1st, 2020, 1:33 pm
by mike
Intersting story in from Dublin which reminds be a bit of the Jaffa Cakes tax row many years ago.

The Irish Supreme court have ruled against the bread in Subway sandwiches being classed as bread for VAT purposes of being zero rated as a staple food. Why ?

The sugar content of bread under Irish law must be no more than 2% of the weight of the dough.

Subway bread contains 10%.

My Panasonic would make crusts like rock at 10% !

The [Irish] Supreme Court today ruled that sandwiches made by Subway contain too much sugar to legally be considered bread.
[...]
However, the five-judge court ruled that the sandwiches must attract a rate of VAT due to its sugar content.
The law states that for bread to be considered a “staple product” and not attract VAT, it “shall not exceed 2% of the weight of flour included in the dough”. Subway’s bread has a 10% ratio.

https://www.thejournal.ie/subway-sandwiches-5218826-Sep2020/

Re: Sugar in Bread

Posted: October 1st, 2020, 4:44 pm
by UncleEbenezer
mike wrote:Subway bread contains 10%.

Sounds like a bloomin' croissant!

Any idea if they're talking natural or added sugar content?

Re: Sugar in Bread

Posted: October 1st, 2020, 5:11 pm
by Rhyd6
I read it as added sugar. We only use two teaspoons of maple syrup in our panny and this seems to work a treat.

R6

Re: Sugar in Bread

Posted: October 1st, 2020, 10:13 pm
by stewamax
Made me wonder what would be the sugar content of Irish Subway brioche if they serve such a thing.
Made me wonder also what taste Subway were trying to disguise - the cheapest flour perhaps?

Re: Sugar in Bread

Posted: October 2nd, 2020, 7:35 am
by UncleEbenezer
stewamax wrote:Made me wonder also what taste Subway were trying to disguise - the cheapest flour perhaps?


B******d if I know. If indeed hiding comes into it: couldn't it just be the result of some kind of market research, as in what helps them sell?

I've been to subway just a handful of times in my life: always when my options were severely limited and I just needed something to stave off hunger. Given their opening hours and sites where there's essentially no competition, I expect they have a core market of people with no choice.

Re: Sugar in Bread

Posted: October 2nd, 2020, 8:22 am
by Gerry557
10% sugar seems like a good reason not to buy that sort of stuff.

I did read, some time ago, that they had removed the shoe rubber that was in the bread, sorry not bread.

Maybe its time for everyone to have a panny

Re: Sugar in Bread

Posted: October 2nd, 2020, 9:38 am
by Lanark
There's been a lot of misreporting on this, the Irish ruling does not say that subway bread is not "bread", they are just saying it is not a staple/basic bread which should qualify for a low tax rate. Lots of cultures have breads with a sugar content designed as a dessert or for special events.

Subway removed azodicarbonamide (the chemical used to make plastic Yoga Mats) from Subway bread some time ago, but what other chemical horrors still remain which make it smell so bad?