Man Says Subway Baked A Knife Into His Bun
A man claims that he was nearly cut when he found a knife baked into the bun of a cold-cut 12-inch sandwich he bought at a Subway restaurant in New York City.
John Agnesini says he knew his lunch didn't taste right. The 27-year-old says he was horrified to find a 7-inch serrated blade in the bread.
He says it was protruding into the half of the sandwich he was about to start chomping on and that it "could've slashed" the side of his mouth.
Agnesini told CBS News Early Show anchor Harry Smith that he bit into the handle of the partially melted knife handle, but did not swallow any of it.
Instead, he says he fell ill with "severe stomach issues" for hours after eating. He attributes it to food poisoning from the embedded blade.
"He reached out to Subway and unfortunately there hasn't been much of a response," Agnesini's lawyer Yetta Kurland told Smith. "We've gotten calls from around the country with other people saying that there've been same or similar incidents happening. We're certainly going to investigate that and we'll be looking into any other health code violations."
Subway spokesman Kevin Kane says food safety and customer comments are taken "very seriously" and that the company is "investigating the facts."
"I think the crux of this lawsuit is really about public health and public safety," Kurland said. "It is unbelievable to us that a food product could contain such a dangerous object in it. Most of us as New Yorkers and probably throughout the country really rely on restaurants and food service industries to provide safe eating for us."
Agnesini says that he has not been back to the Subway restaurant since the incident.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. John Agnesini says he knew his lunch didn't taste right. The 27-year-old says he was horrified to find a 7-inch serrated blade in the bread.
He says it was protruding into the half of the sandwich he was about to start chomping on and that it "could've slashed" the side of his mouth.
Agnesini told CBS News Early Show anchor Harry Smith that he bit into the handle of the partially melted knife handle, but did not swallow any of it.
Instead, he says he fell ill with "severe stomach issues" for hours after eating. He attributes it to food poisoning from the embedded blade.
"He reached out to Subway and unfortunately there hasn't been much of a response," Agnesini's lawyer Yetta Kurland told Smith. "We've gotten calls from around the country with other people saying that there've been same or similar incidents happening. We're certainly going to investigate that and we'll be looking into any other health code violations."
Subway spokesman Kevin Kane says food safety and customer comments are taken "very seriously" and that the company is "investigating the facts."
"I think the crux of this lawsuit is really about public health and public safety," Kurland said. "It is unbelievable to us that a food product could contain such a dangerous object in it. Most of us as New Yorkers and probably throughout the country really rely on restaurants and food service industries to provide safe eating for us."
Agnesini says that he has not been back to the Subway restaurant since the incident.
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Who is handling and preparing our food these days?
This story cuts both ways.
If the guy bends over and pushes,
the "knife"will instantly pop out.
"I once bit into a piece of plastic in a hamburger in a restaurant. I brought it to attention of the manager, without causing a scene, which was met with profuse apologies, his picking up the tab for myself and my companion, and replaced the burger with another that was extremely good. I thanked the manager, properly tipped the waitress, and exited the establishment. I felt no harm, no foul, but never ate there again." Posted by greygrrl at 11:21 AM : Jul 17, 2008
This is what happened to me, only it wasn''t plastic, it was a piece of rusted metal. It looked like a piece of barbed wire. It is a wonder it didn''t cut my mouth. They even offered me a couple of free meals. I said, "NO THANKS".
Those knives are only found on the counter for the woker to slice the already cooked bread. There is no way the knife could have accidentally fallen into the dough prior to cooking it (as it''s frozen, then proofed, then baked)
Either someone delibratly put it in there between the proofing and baking step or the guy is lying...
This is no doubt a fraud:
1. How does a 7 inch blade hide in a 6 inch half of a sandwich?
2. Food poisoning is caused by bacteria which cannot survive the length of time it takes to bake bread at oven temperatures.
3. It''s laughable to think that the lawyer has been getting any honest reports of this happening around the country. If this kind of thing happens, it''s always an isolated incident. A Subway conspiracy? Get real!
4. Where''s the evidence? A knife baked into the bread will leave a characteristic UNCUT pocket in the bread, unlike inserting a knife into already baked bread. What moron would have failed to report this and keep the evidence?
I wonder if there''s security camera tapes?
additionally, the dough is not made on site, but at a factory which ships the frozen pre-formed loaves to the stores. given that those bakeries are highly automated and work with massive batches of dough, i can''t imagine where in the production process that itty-bitty knife might have been used. give it up sir, before you find yourself under arrest for attempted extortion...
He needs to man up, quit being such a money grubbing wuss-loser and just talk to Subway about it. I bet they''d apologize (profusely) and give him a year''s free sandwiches or something alone those lines(since he''s obviously looking for "compensation") . He was horrified? Shoot, horrified is when you come close cutting off a finger with a power saw or when you see yourself heading for a horrible car accident and you narrowly escape at the very last moment. Or you are a store clerk and a thug bursts in and points a gun between your eyes. I thought New Yorkers where supposed to be tough. I don''t think the boy is suited to life in the big city. Grow up! You weren''t cut, it was an accident, quit grubbing for money, and talk to them. Be a man.