From butchered bacon sandwiches to hot dog squabbles: six surprising food fights

1. Ed Miliband’s bacon sandwich

Was a photograph of Ed Miliband biting into a bacon sandwich to blame for Labour losing the 2015 general election? Perhaps not, but it did prompt a torrent of mocking coverage, memes and a cultural conversation that took in everything from class to anti-semitism. And Miliband can’t seem to stay away from food controversy, telling Sky News “I wish I could have a cross-party consensus here with Kemi Badenoch. But I can’t. I think I need to persuade her of the delights of a bacon sandwich.”

2. The ‘Dom Raab special’

Pret baguettes sit in a chilled display cabinet

In 2018, the diary secretary for the then-housing minister was recorded saying he was “difficult”, “dismissive of women” and, crucially, ordered “the chicken Caesar and bacon baguette” from Pret every single day. Raab denied it all, adding that he was “tempted by the spicy Italian baguette from Subway”.

3. Rishi Sunak’s last meal in politics

Rishi Sunak offers Jill Biden a sandwich

The day before this year’s UK general election, Sunak was asked what his final meal in No10 would be if he lost. He described himself as a “big sandwich person” having said “club sandwich, chips and a Coke would be one of my favourite meals”. The electorate was unimpressed - but presumably he had a great dinner. This wasn’t even the first time Sunak prompted a culinary storm: in 2022 he talked of enjoying McDonald’s breakfast wraps – an item removed from the menu nearly two-and-a-half years before.

4. The Trump sandwich

In 2015, the owner of Washington DC’s American City Diner created a Trump sandwich that made their political loyalties clear: “He’s got a really big mouth and a lot of the stuff that comes out of it is bologna, so I figured that a sandwich filled with a pound of bologna would be the only one big enough to fit his big mouth.”

5. The prawn sandwich brigade

As Nick Hornby popularised football for the middle classes, Manchester United’s Roy Keane took aim at the club’s fanbase. “Away from home our fans are fantastic, I’d call them the hardcore fans,” he said in 2000. “But at home they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don’t realise what’s going on out on the pitch.” And thus the phrase “prawn sandwich brigade” was coined for those who prefer half time hospitality to the action on the pitch.

6. Is a hot dog a sandwich?

Takeru Kobayashi about to devour a pile of hot dogs

In the US, the debate over whether a hot dog counts as a sandwich has taken on a life of its own, with actors, politicians and celebrities weighing in. “I’ve never considered a hot dog a sandwich because a hot dog is a hot dog,” Matt Damon told a Reddit AMA. “I mean technically it comes between two pieces of bread or one fold it into two, so I guess you can classify it as a sandwich. Then what would you call it, a hot dog sandwich? That’s like a hat on a hat so let’s just keep it as a hot dog.” Meryl Streep tried to have it both ways. “Is a hot dog a sandwich? Well with a bun, yes. Without a bun, no. It’s a canapé.” In 2020, US website The Verge said the debate had gone on long enough – but to little avail.