Comments on: Vegemite ban may be urban legend

By: The Gay Curmudgeon

The Gay Curmudgeon — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 13:50:24 +0000

The dearth of Vegemite on shelves in the US and Canada is ultimately Kraft’s decision. Vegemite as formulated since 1999 doesn’t comply with FDA regulations and Vegemite has to comply with US labeling requirements. After the formulation changed Kraft USA had a run of Vegemite produced using the older FDA compliant formulation. Australians in the US will probably remember a period where only tiny containers (4-6 ounces) were available at outrageous prices. The business issue for Kraft is that the “volume and velocity” of the total US market for Vegemite doesn’t justify the effort and expense of a special run of Vegemite. Today there is no legal US distributor for Vegemite.

I’ve spoken to people at Kraft USA who work, or have worked, on this business and have posted what I’ve been able to learn on my blog. According to one source at Kraft, Vegemite is available through the “grey market”. Any Vegemite that isn’t left over from Kraft USA ceasing importation is illegally imported “grey market” product.

Call it a ban, or call it FDA non-compliance, the net effect is that Kraft has decided it is not worth the effort to make Vegemite available in the US. This is also true in Canada, but for different reasons. Canada has just changed their food labeling regulations so that any Vegemite imported directly from Australia would require the added expense of relabeling. Kraft Australia has been approached to supply Vegemite directly to the Canadian market, but they have refused because of the cost of meeting the Canadian labeling requirements. Kraft USA decides what it imported into both the USA and Canada.

~GC

By: Bill from FL

Bill from FL — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 02:54:55 +0000

There is a chain store in Viera, FL that sells international-type foods. I bought a small jar of vegeminte there so I very very much doubt it’s banned. However once I tasted it, I deduced that it’s the reason Australia abolished capital punishment! YUCK! (Sorry Kraft, just my taste!)

By: deb cheers

deb cheers — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 22:57:13 +0000

I emailed Kraft Australia and asked…this is their reply…”
Kraft actually stopped exporting Vegemite to the USA about 12 months ago
after the US FDA ruled that Vegemite’s folate fortification was not allowed
under US regulations, which stipulates folate fortification only in certain
kinds of foods (which did not include spreads like Vegemite). As a result
of this our Export department has made the decision to no longer export
Vegemite to Canada as well, however, US and Canadian consumers may still
purchase Vegemite from a number of online US-based retailers and I have
checked these websites today & they stock various sizes of Vegemite.” and when I asked if having jars confiscated was a beat up “In relation to taking Vegemite into the USA the FDA has introduced new laws
to combat potential threats to local security in the form of ‘Bio
Terrorism’. All food products brought to the USA have to go through a
process of ‘pre-notification’. This gives USA Customs the time to assess
the risk of the source of the product. If the food arrives ‘un-announced’,
then Customs has said it will be rejected. In terms of overcoming this
issue we are suggesting to consumers that they visit the US Customs & Border
Protection website at http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/ for further details
and advice re how to get Vegemite through.” Much clearer (NOT). You work it out……

By: Bill Evans ( Virginian)

Bill Evans ( Virginian) — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 13:05:36 +0000

According to SNOPES its FALSE. Could just be that the places that sell it, don't sell enough of it to keep it in stock to make it worthwhile. Much easier to blame the government, than to admit it to your customers. Here's a plan. Talk to the store manager if you want this stuff. Then tell them you'll buy a whole case. And buy it if available, Offer to sell it to other Ausies at a premium price since has been "banned."

By: LAN3

LAN3 — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 02:12:02 +0000

Tim Blair’s site has a commenter from Redmond, WA, who was able to find it at Larry’s Market over there– I’ll try the Queen Anne location.

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 19:57:48 +0000

My local grocery store, Metropolitan Market in Seattle, used to stock Vegemite. About 6 months ago, they put up a notice that it would no longer be available due to the FDA prohibiting its importation. Once they sold out of existing stock, it was gone.

By: LAN3

LAN3 — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 18:12:36 +0000

I wonder how effective such a law would've been anyway? Kindereggs, the chocolate eggs with a toy inside (some assembly req'd) are illegal because of the choking hazard posed by the small parts (and the idea of a toy inside candy might be too novel for some wee ones), are easy to obtain even though they aren't widely available-- ethnic groceries that do a lot of importing, as well as the internets. So while it might cause a drop in vegemite sales, I doubt it'd've killed availability completely. Also, it's possible that Rob Cockerham has some left over from his "How Much is Inside Vegemite" experiment. Pre-spread!

By: gunner

gunner — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 13:05:02 +0000

What is not strange to me is that it was so believable. It sounds like something our government would do.

That says more then the legend itself.