Vegemite ban in the USA.....

[DragonMornir]

www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20623973-2,00.html

Vegemite is deemed illegal cos it has folic acid in it, and only breads and cereals are allowed to contain folic acid in them over in the USA !!!!! Read below!!!



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.

The great Aussie icon - faithfully carried around the world by travellers from downunder - contains folate, which under a technicality, America allows to be added only to breads and cereals.

Australian expatriates in the US said enforcement of the ban had been gradually stepped up and was now ruining lifelong traditions of Vegemite on toast for breakfast.

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.

[Min]

bizarre all right.

Vegemite containing folic acid, why is that such a big deal??
(considering a gun is likely to cause much more damage, yet they're still legal)

Sounds to me like there's some competitor spread or something...made there...that they wanted everyone to support. It's just weird.

[Kella]

Who would be stupid enough to ban vegemite? Vegemite is an Aussie favourite and it's been around for ages. What does folic acid do anyway if they only allow it in breads and that? Now I know I'm not going to America any time soon. And a competitor spread would have to have folic acid in it too if it was going to taste anything like vegemite.

[Kaylan-R]

I think its stupid because there are so many bad things that they eat, yet they ban vegemite!! So stupid

[Lina]

Folic acid is a B vitamin. It is used in our bodies to make new cells. If a woman has enough folic acid in her body before she is pregnant, it can help prevent major birth defects of her baby’s brain and spine. These birth defects are called neural tube defects or NTDs. Women need to take folic acid every day starting before they are pregnant to help prevent NTDs. www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/index.htm

Just a quick search I did on the net.

Gah honestly, the world and it's obscurerities never ceases to amaze me.

[Kaylan-R]

I know. Next they will be telling us that excess sugar is good for you!

[Lina]

NEVER!! I LIVE for sugar!!

Mmmmmm m&m's

Although, sometimes the strange looks I get, makes me kind of get off the substance... but only kind of

[MajiKat]

you'd think having folic acid in your diet would be an okay thing...

its just wrong. purely wrong. i would die without vegemite -i just had a piece of toast with vegemite...

i'm quietly stunned i think.

[esspess]

woa wat the..? are they insane or what. vegemite is the bestest spread in the world!
if folic acid is just vitamin B and so good for you, wouldnt you think they'd want you to be eating more of it to keep a balanced diet and so they dont have women having deformed babies and what not... i dont understand instead they have a ban on the substance except in bread and cereal. who made that law in the first place..some nutcase who wanted everyone to have deformend babies..! thats just stupid. and since vegemite has been allowed for so long even despite this law it means someone has to have reported it or something..who would do that.. they really mustnt like it..!??!

there is soo much craziness in the world..i actually saw on some show once that in this place in some state of america somewhere there is a rule..a law.. that it is illegal to not smile! like what is that!!? *scoffs*

[Squirt]

Mmmm, all this talk about Vegemite has made me hungry!

I like your point about guns, Min. Some absolute idiots can just walk into a shop and buy a gun but they're banning Vegemite. They're actually spending time, and therefore money searching Aussies entering the US for Vegemite when they could spend that time taking guns off the street and tackling issues like obesity. Surely some Vegemite on toast is much healthier than a Big Mac.

If they're so anti folic acid then why not just place a warning label on the jar or something.

Is this story really legit? I have trouble believing that they could seriously be banning Vegemite.

[Cat-Eyes]

Yeah, it's legit. They've banned it because it contains folate and they only allow bread and cereal to contain folate, for reasons unbeknown to me. Folate's good, and it's important in pregnancy, why do they only want it in cereals and bread?!

Silly Americans...

[Cookie Lover]

It's (folate) legally only aloud in bread and cereal due to a tecnicality.

[Fuil Dearg]

this is surprising.
in ireland, in the last few years, breakfast cereals (cornflakes and rice krispies for example) have had folic acid added to them and have been advertised as being beneficial for women in pregnancy because of the health benefits it gives to their unborn child.
and now they ban it in America. and it's a water soluble vitamin, is it actually dangerous somehow?
does anyone know what the technicality is?
i can't think of any reason they'd ban it except, like min said, a competitor.

[Dragon]

Well if the American's are so against Vegemite and its Folate content (a huge preventative of Spina Bifida) perhaps they will give us the chance to get OUR Vegemite back......let the Aussies own it again!!

[esspess]

well said ariadne!! i totally agree we should get vegemite back! we are the only ones that eat it anyway.

[Kaylan-R]

This may sound wiers, but I was watching some channel nine morning news show this morning ans someone wrote in saying that the vegemite ban was a hoax.

[MajiKat]

i heard about the ban again this morning. i was at the shops near school looking for some vegemite for my toast, and yeah, the shopkeeper mentioned it. i haven't seen it in the news yet, but word is out!

love my vegemite!

everybody sing:
we're happy little Vegemites
as bright as bright can be
we all enjoy our vegemite...

[Dragon]

...for breakfast, lunch and tea...

I had also heard it was a hoax, but according to an email sent in to 9am claimed someone had seen it listed on a website for American...something to do with people who watch food laws and such.
At least the American's haven't banned it here...then there would be mutiny.

[Dark One]

Well, if any of you are visiting the UK you can still buy it in most places over here, somewhere on the shelf near the Marmite

[Lucy]

My mate, Marmite! I am definately a lover.
They only allow folic acid in breads and cereals? Are baked beans classed as cereal? I couldn't live without baked beans...even non-Heinz ones (in fact, the new(ish) Branston ones are pretty damn good!)

Surely it must be a hoax?

[Fuil Dearg]

i used to like bachelors beans but they aren't as good as they once were. I had some Heinz beans the other day, they were nice. Unexpectedly, the Centra beans are very yummy, their taste reminds me a little of what Bachelors used to taste like. Bachelors aren't bad, it's just I used to like them more than I now do. It was surprising how well-tasting the Centra beans were because they are own brand beans and in my experience own brand (Centra is a shop) beans don't taste as nice as the likes of Heinz and Bachelors, until now.

By the way, what is vegemite? Why do they odd folic acid? Do they add so much that it affects the taste of it noticeable?

[Lina]

Vegemite I'm not sure... see I could do a search from off the top of my head, I think it is wheat, or yeast extract, anyways it's full of vitamin B.

Yeah - bring Vegemite back to the Aussies - why are we selling everything? Like Arnotts - that's Australian too, except now it's American owned (I think) as well.

[Dark One]

Fuil - You can read about Vegimite here: www.vegemite.com.au/

and for anyone that doesn't know what Marmite is, you can read about it here: www.unilever.co.uk/ourbrands/foods/marmite.asp

They are both pure vegtable extract and made from left over brewers yeast. Essentialy they are the same product (though Marmite has 20 years seniority over Vegimite )

[Squirt]

Yeah, vegemite is the new and improved Marmite

[MajiKat]

oooo i hate marmite! and promite!

whenever we'd go to my nan and pops, they'd have a special jar of vegemite just for us. pop was a brit, so he loved his fakeymite spreads...(sorry british ppl's, but vegemite wins hands down)

by the way - whcih one is British - promite or marmite?