Canada and Australia, sister-countries of the British Empire now within the Commonwealth and simultaneously engaged in respective federal elections in the face of massive U.S.-instigated upheaval in global trade, are now engaged in a struggle over... Vegemite. Top trending news stories in Canada and Australia describe the turmoil as leading politicians have joined the fray:<p>https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/australian-canadian-cafe-owner-ordered-remove-vegemite-1.7508893<p>https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pro-vegemite-albanese-backs-cafe-owner-as-canada-cracks-down-on-iconic-spread-20250415-p5lrxr.html<p>https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/15/anthony-albanese-backs-australian-cafe-owner-importing-vegemite-to-canada-ntwnfb<p>I personally loathe and despise Vegemite (and Marmite, too) but my wife finds it tolerable after trying it in her uni days at Flinders way back when.<p>Perhaps this crisis is only just an opportunity for levity in the midst of massive disruption to world trade patterns. Perhaps my click-baity question will bring a smile.<p>So, is Vegemite worthy of all the strife?
I find vegemite far too salty, and the taste too strong, even spread as thin on toast to be merely the slightest colour change. No I don't like it much. I've only found the NZ version of marmite [1] being palatable and after time found I looked forward every so often to a nice marmite sandwich.<p>I would guess it has to do more with how it was imported into Canada. [2]<p>The labelling might be also what's got the product into trouble, yeast extract should have those vitamins in moderately high levels as it is without fortifying.<p>Finally for the rofl is a 2010 crow [3a,b] in regard to how Canada is leading the way ... to allow fortified foods<p>[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast_extract#Marmite_(New_Zealand)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast_extract#Marmite_(New_Zea...</a><p>[2] <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Regulations/C.R.C.,_c._870/FullText.html" rel="nofollow">https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Regulations/C.R.C.,_c._8...</a><p>[3a] <a href="https://www.cmaj.ca/content/182/5/426" rel="nofollow">https://www.cmaj.ca/content/182/5/426</a> ... [3b] <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2842846/" rel="nofollow">https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2842846/</a>
Bega bought Vegemite just for the "Australian" brand...in my mind, if they cant compete with the ludicrous prices of cheese and vegemite they offer, they should pack it