The International Vegemite Incident
Is Vegemite dangerous?
Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd
challenged by US airport authorities
to explain what a jar of paste
was doing in his travel bag
Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd had to talk himself out of trouble after airport officials flagged up a suspicious liquid in his cabin baggage – a jar of Vegemite. Mr. Rudd was heading to New York from Mexico City when he attracted the authorities’ attention.
He explained that the dark brown paste was his breakfast and, with help from local diplomats, was allowed through.
Vegemite is a dark brown food paste made from yeast extract. It is a spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets and cracker biscuits, and filling for pastries. And Australians love it. It is almost impossible to find outside of Australia, so many traveling Australians take a jar of the salty spread with them on their travels.
Vegemite is made from used brewers’ yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, and various vegetable and spice additives. It is salty, slightly bitter, and umami or malty – similar to beef bouillon. The texture is smooth, and the product is a paste.
Vegemite is one of the world’s richest known sources of B vitamins, specifically thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and folic acid, but unlike other yeast extracts, it contains no vitamin B12. The main ingredient of Vegemite is yeast extract, which contains a high concentration of glutamic acid.
Vegemite got a mention in the song by Men At Work ‘A Land Down Under’.
About Post Author
Holte Ender
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Some of the Sam’s Clubs now carry it in the U.S in fairly large jars. Pretty much what you would expect from a warehouse store. On the bright side, you could serve breakfast to a rather large group of Aussies.
I will not shop at a Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club, so I guess I’m going to have to co-opt some one who does. I’ve wanted to try this stuff since PBS used to air the Paul Hogan show.
Now I’d like to get a taste of this stuff but don’t plan on visiting Australia anytime soon.