Dunkin’ Donuts Sued for Making Its ‘Steak’ Sandwich Out of Ground Beef

Basically a glorified sausage-and-egg sandwich. Photo: –/Dunkin’ Donuts

All meat-loving Americans love a good steak-and-eggs breakfast, so of course Dunkin’ Donuts has a bagel sandwich — the Angus Steak & Egg — that tries to mine the combo’s immense popularity. Dishonor such a seminal dish, though, and somebody will come for your neck, as the chain has discovered now that it’s the defendant in a new lawsuit filed by a woman in Queens. Chufen Chen argues the “steak” part of the Steak & Egg is BS — that it’s technically just a regular beef patty (from Angus cows, if that matters) mixed with lots of preservatives and fillers. That means the meat “[isn’t] in actuality steak but rather it’s a patty that they advertise heavily as steak” — a trick, essentially, that lets Dunkin’ sell the sandwich as a “luxury or superior product to their classic line.”

She apparently filed suit after reading the patty’s ingredient list, which isn’t confidence-inspiring:

Angus Beef, Marinade {Water, Beef Flavor [Water, Natural Flavor (contains milk), Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Yeast Extract, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten, High Oleic Sunflower Oil), Glycerine, Artificial Flavor, Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate, Monosodium Glutamate, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Soy Sauce (Water, Soybeans, Salt, Ethyl Alcohol, Wheat), Salt, Triglycerides, Thiamin Hydrochloride, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative)], Salt with BHA, TBHQ, Citric Acid, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Black Pepper}

However, Chen doesn’t feel cheated by the patty itself so much as the way the Steak & Egg is marketed. Among the sandwich’s ads is this one, which features friends deciding to celebrate one guy’s new job by eating “steak and eggs” — a term that’s yelled with gusto no fewer than 15 times in the ad’s 30 seconds.

The lawsuit notes another “misleading” ad in which two strangers bond on a park bench over their mutual love of steak. “As the narrator speaks: ‘It’s a big day for steak fans, Duncan’s Angus steak and eggs breakfast sandwich is back!’ a fork places the ‘steak’ onto the egg,” the complaint says.

Chen argues that Dunkin’ is profiting unfairly off this false advertising, since customers are charged “a premium for their purchase of ‘steak’ sandwiches,” which cost about 50 to 60 cents more. Her suit proposes a class action made up of all customers who’ve purchased the Steak & Egg or its wrap version, the Snack N’ Go.

Dunkin’ Donuts Sued for ‘Steak’ Sandwich Made of Ground Beef