Kangaroo meat in a Swedish supermarket

Subway recently opened a store in Karlskrona. I have never been a big fan of Subway, but as this is a small town with relatively few lunch options we decided to try it out. It is just like every other Subway franchise I have seen, except for one key difference.  They don’t sell six-inch and twelve-inch subs. These staples of American culture have been replaced with their metric 15-centimetre and 30-centimetre siblings.

To me the translation into metric sounds ridiculous, and I am from a country using the metric system. In Australia I never thought twice about Subway’s use of imperial measurement, it was merely an indicator of size. I have never thought to question whether Cadburys put a imperial or metric glass and half of full cream milk in every block of chocolate, but it has been in operation long enough that it could be either. 

I have a feeling that this translation into metric is a requirement of the European Union. While I can understand the value of this standardisation in general, I feel this has gone too far. I suppose the European Unions fears if they give retailers 2.54 cm they will take 1.61 km.

However, I must admit I appreciate the metric translations when watching American TV shows. While I have some feeling for feet and inches this doesn’t extend beyond the height of a normal person. So seeing the Empire State Buildings 1,472 feet translated into a more comprehensible 449 metres in the subtitles is a job well done in my opinion.

In other foreign food related news, my new local supermarket sells salt and vinegar chips, and kangaroo meat! All I need now is [real] saussages, chocolate syrup, Tim Tams,  self raising flour, bottles of vanilla essence, …