Say it aint so. No Vegemite?

There has been a rumor circulating that Vegemite has been temporarily banned by the FDA due to the ingredient folate,an FDA regulated food additive , which in the United States is only allowed in bread and cereal?..not spreads? Whats the difference?..Ok, if this isnt confusing enough, conflicting tales have some saying there is no validity to the Vegemite story, but then it is odd that it seems to be out of stock at most grocery stores.

What exactly is Vegemite? If your not already familiar with the “Men At Work” song “Down Under”..Vegemite is a salty spread used for toast and sandwiches made from yeast extract. The product is imported from Australia.

Why my interest in the ban?…I grew up on Vegemite’s first cousin, Marmite ( the British version and much better in my opinion..sorry Vegemite fans.)
I looked around and could find no such ban on the FDA site. Although I was able to locate seizures of Vegemite and Marmite “at the borders” in the  FDA refusal reports.

Wanna see what people are getting stopped at the border with?

Refusal Reports

Seems as if the conflicting stories are a result of the fact the problem is with Kraft, the US distributor of Vegemite. Kraft it seems , due to the folate issue (labeling perhaps?), is not allowed to import Vegemite for distribution until the problem is resolved, but individuals are allowed to bring Vegemite into the country.

My suggestion: switch to Marmite–its much better.

My recommedation for tasty british treats…Taste of Britain in Norcross– lots of wonderful teas, spreads, treats of all kinds…

This entry was posted on November 21, 2006 at 8:16 pm and is filed under Interesting News/ Facts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.