I think this is worth noting:
The downside to freshly sliced deli meat
It’s worth noting that from an employee standpoint, the freshly sliced deli meat is going to require more work per sandwich. If you’ve ever asked a deli worker at the grocery store for a half pound of roast beef, you’ve seen them lug a giant hunk of it over to the slicer and begin work on your order. This obviously takes a little bit of time, so your sandwiches might require a longer wait.
Then there’s the sanitation part: While it’s crucial to keep any food prep area as clean as possible, it’s arguably even more important when using a deli slicer. Deli meat is prone to listeria contamination, and since there’s constantly meat touching the surface of the slicer, one tainted item carries the potential to spread listeria to countless other orders.
I’ve used deli slicers for kitchen prep work before, and cleaning those things is very difficult. There are many moving parts to a slicer that all come into contact with the meat, and cleaning the blade thoroughly isn’t always easy, because some small gaps between the blade and the body of the device are almost impossible to reach with a towel. I don’t want to say food poisoning is inevitable, because it’s entirely preventable, but with this switch, Subway is certainly introducing a new kind of food safety risk.
Speaking of risk, employees will have to be trained on this new and dangerous piece of equipment. A document from OSHA, which is not for the faint of heart, explains that deli slicers are hazardous not only when being used, but also when being cleaned. Protective gear such as tough gloves are necessary to go anywhere near it, and Subway will have to provide those precautions to employees at all times. Switching from pre-sliced meat might save Subway money, but at the same time, the company is signing on to increased liability.