Disturbing news reports are leaking out of Australia. Apparently U.S. customs has banned the importation of Vegemite into the United States. What will Aussies living here do without their favorite food?
The Sunday Times reports:
THE US has banned Vegemite, even to the point of searching Australians for jars of the spread when they enter the country. The bizarre crackdown was prompted because Vegemite has been deemed illegal under US food laws... Kraft spokeswoman Joanna Scott said: "The (US) Food and Drug Administration doesn't allow the import of Vegemite simply because the recipe does have the addition of folic acid.'' The US was "a minor market'' for Vegemite, she said.
GeelongInfo.com also corroborates this story, reporting that one of their reporters was stopped while crossing from Canada into the US, and the border guards demanded to know if they were carrying Vegemite:
"We thought they were joking but it was real," Fogarty said. "We went down to Montana and were crossing the border, they searched everybody's car as they do and after they searched asked if we were carrying any Vegemite. We were completely shocked. Normally Sarah wouldn't travel far without Vegemite but for some reason we didn't have it." Police recognised the couple as Australians and thought they might be suspects.
But some are skeptical.
Cerebral Soup reports finding no mention of such a ban on any US government site, except for a
single mention of some vegemite coming from the UK being banned.
My theory is that
Drop Bears are somehow responsible for the ban, since as everyone knows, one of the only defenses against a drop bear is to spread vegemite behind your ears. With no Vegemite in the US, we'll all be defenseless when they launch their attack.
UPDATE: The FDA have said that they have not banned vegemite. The refused batches from the UK were stopped for:
"labeling problems (lack of ingredient list), suspected presence of a color additive not approved for use in food in the United States, and lack of registration of facilities and filing of processes for a low-acid canned food."
(Thanks, Nathan and Tom.)
Comments
Oh, and vegemite tastes...unique. It's a bit hard to explain, especially since most people new to vegemite tend to spread it on as thick as you would peanut butter. The trick is to only have a thin coating of it (unless you're Boo). It's rather salty though but not as salty as Marmite. Promite is also similar but I think that's a Kiwi brand...
Hope that helps!
While I'm not as bad as Nettie, it would be a hard task to visit the US without the prospect of being able to feast on vegemite on toast...
ChristopherBago: I doubt you ever will know what it tastes like now.. Although if you do get some, do NOT treat it like peanut butter.. Thin with plenty of butter on toast is good.. Or try with some cheese as well. Go to the wikipedia page for a pic that shows how it is done..
I called it the latest target in the war against terror: http://jroller.com/page/nathan?entry=latest_enemy_in_the_war
Hope the US realises how stupid this appears when folate is added to prevent childhood problems and spinal/brain defects in newborns.
If the FDA was really concerned with the health effects of folic acid, they could slap a tax on it and call it alcohol. Problem fixed.
On <a >one of the FDA webpages</a>:
United Kingdom 084-1013637-1 47 1
Nisa International Grimsby , GB
NYK-DO 25HCT99 KRAFT VEGEMITE SANDWICH SPREAD
DOES NOT REQUIRE FCE/SID
19-JAN-2006
Section: 402(a)(4), 801(a)(3); ADULTERATION
Charge: It appears the manufacturer is not registered as a low acid canned food or acidified food manufacturer pursuant to 21 CFR 108.25(c)(1) or 108.35(c)(1).
Section: 402(a)(4), 801(a)(3); ADULTERATION
Charge: It appears that the manufacturer has not filed information on its scheduled process as required by 21 CFR 108.25(c)(2) or 108.35(c)(2).
* * * * *
On <a >another FDA webpage</a>:
United Kingdom GX5-9910400-5 32 3
Nisaway Ltd Lincolnshire , GB
LOS-DO 37KCT99 VEGEMITE VEGETABLE EXTRACT
27-FEB-2006
Section: 402(c), 801(a)(3); ADULTERATION
Charge: The article appears to be, or to bear or contain a color additive which is unsafe within the meaning of Section 721(a).
Section: 403(i)(2), 801(a)(3); MISBRANDING
Charge: It appears the food is fabricated from two or more ingredients and the label does not list the common or usual name of each ingredient.
Section: 403(e)(2), 801(a)(3); MISBRANDING
Charge: The food is in package form and appears to not have a label containing an accurate statement of the quantity of the contents in terms of weight, measure or numerical count and no variations or exemptions have been prescribed by. . .
* * * * *
The USDA's Nutrient Data Laboratory has Vegemite mentioned once, although in what context I couldn't really figure out. It wasn't for anything bad, though, since it was <a >in a long, long list</a> that included about every other known type of food on Earth.
Other vegetables, cooked: (Subgroup Code 752)
752-3650 Yeast extract spread (Include Vegemite, Marmite, Promite)
1 tsp...................................................... 6 g
Serving not specified...................................... NA
* * * * *
* * * * *
It's also mentioned on <a >this page by the CDC</a>. Make what you will of it's about, I haven't a clue.
* * * * *
Also, the Office of Research Integrity <a >does not recommend offering Vegemite</a> or gefilte fish as compensation for messing up other peoples' work in American laboratories. . .
it is prob just the same in the states.
you can prob still get marmite which is prctically the same.
Please, oh great drop bear overlord,spare my life for destoying these pitiful human's defences by making there vegemite illegal!
Like most Kiwi kids, I grew up with both Marmite and Vegemite as everyday toast spreads; people who didn't have it as kids generally don't like it. It has lots of vitamin B and helped me grow up big and strong!
Promite was never so common here, though you can get it. Australian, maybe? Marmite is saltier than Vegemite, but it's hard to describe the difference otherwise ... it tastes darker.
I can't believe they hadn't heard of it...especially b/c this song was so damn popular:
Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six foot four and full of muscles
I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich
And he said "I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover." (I pulled that off a website, so I don't know if it's exactly the correct lyrics.)
When I go shopping this week, I'll have to stop into the health food store & check. My hubby's family spent some time in New Zealand...I vaguely recall seeing that red & yellow label in their fridge when I visited...his mom might have been a fan...or it could have been something else. 😊
It just seems such a bizarre thing to ban. Pregnant women are prescribed folic acid to take w/ their pre-natal vitamins. I had a prenatal vitamin, an iron tablet (which I didn't take, b/c it yucked me out...I just ate a lot of liver & beef), and folic acid pills...which might have been blue. Eventually, my doc gave me an Rx for a prenatal vitamin that had more folic acid in it - and I just took the one pill.
I couldn't find anything to verify a ban other than the above mentioned shipment(s) from the UK that was (were) stopped. I don't know what all the codes mean, but to me it looked more like a paperwork issue than an issue with the vegemite itself
It makes absolutely no sense to me. Folate is a vitamin. Furthermore, it's a vitamin that is now being ADDED to bread and grain products to fortify it. There is absolutely no reason why anything containing Folic Acid/folate should be banned. There have been widespread recent efforts to get women of child bearing age to consume more folic acid to prevent neural tube defects. It would make more sense for the FDA to encourage people to eat vegemite, rather than banning it for containing a substance that it's promoting people eat more of.
I initially heard about this from boing boing. The article said that the reason for the ban was that here in the US, folate could only be added to bread and cereal products. Since vegemite is a yeast extract, it could be argued that vegemite is a "bread product"
I also read on some aussie/us expat site's FAQ that back in 2000, it was determined that vegemite contained TOO MUCH folate and therefore as of 2005, you could only buy vegemite in 4oz containers in the US. I found nothing to even back that statement up. There was a link to a wikipedia article about folic acid that supposedly was the source of that "fact" but when I went to the article, I didn't see it mentioned.
I suppose the only way to really know for sure is if someone emails the FDA and they actually respond.
Someone who lives in NYC and who reads this website needs to do some investigating to see if it's still in stores down there. I used to see it all the time in Manhattan and once in LA, but never anywhere else in the states.
We're happy little vegemites, as bright as bright can be,
We all enjoy our vegemite for breakfast. lunch and tea,
Our Mummy sayd we're growing stronger every single week,
Because we love our vegemite, we all adore our vegemite,
It puts a rose in every cheek'
That is all.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=155019
US govt denies it's banned Vegemite
Wednesday Oct 25 06:28 AEST
Australians travelling to the US can breathe easy. So can the 100,000 or so Australian expatriates living in America.
The US government dismissed media reports it had banned Vegemite.
"There is no ban on Vegemite," US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) spokesman Mike Herndon told AAP.
Media reports at the weekend claimed American border officials were confiscating Vegemite from Australians as they entered the US.
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The FDA, charged with policing America's food supply, has not issued an "import alert" to border officials to halt the import of Vegemite.
Herndon said the FDA was surprised by the media reports.
The controversy centres on folate, an ingredient in Vegemite.
Under US regulations, folate can be added only to breads and cereals.
"One of the Vitamin B components (in Vegemite) is folate," Herndon explained.
"In and of itself, it's not a violation. If they're adding folate to it, boosting it up, technically it would be a violation.
"But the FDA has not targeted it and I don't think we intend to target Vegemite simply because of that."
Joanna Scott, spokesperson for Vegemite's maker, Kraft, reportedly has said, "The Food and Drug Administration doesn't allow the import of Vegemite simply because the recipe does have the addition of folic acid".
But Herndon said, "Nobody at the FDA has told them (Kraft) there is a ban".
To eradicate any grey areas or potential regulation breaches, Herndon said, Kraft could petition the FDA, something other food manufacturers have done.
While many Aussies living in the US rely on visiting Australian relatives and friends to bring them a jar or two of Vegemite from Australia, the product is available in some US supermarkets.
The price slapped on Vegemite, however, is tough to swallow.
A tiny, four ounce jar of Vegemite sells for around $US4.80 ($A6.33) in US supermarkets.
...
So maybe this was a case of an over zealous border official? Or is Kraft behind this as a publicity stunt?
But as far as I know: folate IS boosted in vegemite. The fact that a serving size has exactly 50% RDI and this article:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/15/1052885324637.html
(about fortification of foods with folate) although not specifically stating vegemite is fortified it does say:
"Manufacturers of breakfast cereals and Vegemite, in particular, were quick to adopt the folate recommendations, he says. "But, on the whole, the extent of food fortification is somewhat less than we hoped.""
So that then still counts it out as it qualifies as "boosted"
Nath
Dear Mr. Ward:
This email is in response to your inquiry regarding the food product Vegemite. The FDA has not prohibited the importation of Vegemite product. Earlier this year, FDA refused entry to a handful of Vegemite shipments offered for import from Great Britain. The refusals were based on three issues: labeling problems (lack of ingredient list), suspected presence of a color additive not approved for use in food in the United States, and lack of registration of facilities and filing of processes for a low-acid canned food.
I hope that this information answers your questions. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Stephen R. King
Public Affairs Specialist
Food and Drug Administration
6000 xxxxx Drive, Suite 101
Baltimore, MD 21xxx
410-xxx-xxx
fax: 410-xxx-xxx
(contact info edited out, but you can look him up on http://www.fda.gov if you want)
This might have happened because Kraft is owned by Altria, which also happens to own phillip morris. So, technically, that would make kraft a tobacco company I guess...
How much can a koala Bear!!!
Its the sweet taste of home, just had my vegy on crackers and came to learn a little more about all of this, maybe the last thing I ever imagined being made off limits...
Maybe the future just a simple warning on the tube will be enough???
PS It makes my mouth water Happy/Happy/Happy
But you do need to be introduced as a child to it.
Cut the crust of bread spread margarine and vegy then roll it up and cut into to bit size peices.
Childhood memories!!!
How stupid banning something that is so good for you. How do we survive for 5 weeks. Ouch. It will kill me.