And he just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich
...you better run, you better take cover, yeah
In the English speaking countries of England, New Zealand and Australia the caramel coloured concoctions by the name of marmite (England, NZ) and vegemite (Australia) are ubiquitous.
In fact in the case of Australia it reaches into the very language of the nation for example the phrase ‘little vegemite’ refers to a little (Australian natch) child. And of course there’s that song “Down Under” by Men At Work the song that gave me the title for this post “And he just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich” (hmmm).
This was ostensibly a very Australian song but it was sung by Colin Hay who spent his first 14 years in Scotland and has now spent his last 24 years in Los Angeles. I’m not even sure if he has Australian citizenship or not. A little like Russel Crowe maybe. Vegemite is similar as it is owned lock, stock and barrel by Kraft which is an American company.
Anyway lets get back to the ingredients of Marmite & Vegemite shall we? It’s supposed to be a concoction invented, or enabled, by a German by the name of Justus Von Liebig (ho ho) and named after a french word for a cooking pot. Some non-Australians might think that they had the French term “marmite du diable” in mind at the time of the naming of this yeast extract. The translation of that French term btw is ‘devils brew’.
Denmark has more or less banned Marmite and this of course made news in the United Kingdom where the Danes were basically laughed at.
But should they be? What is it that gives Marmite & Vegemite (& coca cola for that matter) its colour? Well that’s caramel. In Vegemite it is Caramel #2 and in Marmite (the NZ version anyway) it is Caramel #3 (otherwise known as E150b & E150c). But although the manufacturing process for these two caramels is slightly different
the European Food Safety Authority didn’t think this mattered squat in 2004 and stated that “Given this likely variability, the Panel considers that in order to further guarantee the safety of caramel colours with respect to their minor constituents, such as THI, 4-MEI, 5-HMF and furan, it would be prudent to reduce their levels as much as technologically feasible”. That level is roughly 3 times lower than the current levels of caramel colouring in these ‘mites’ (vege & mar). It would seem the Danes were correct to ban the spread. Did they ban Coca Cola as well though?
I’ll leave the last word to these guys.
Why yes it is. Now be a good little vegemite won’t you, and eat your poison.
It has been on the grocery shelves here for around 100 years. A much loved product.
Perhaps a bit of poison stimulates the immune system leaving us healthier!
Loved the Men at Work song, not Vegemite (or Marmite). Those spreads sound like Coca Cola paste with the artificial caramel coloring. Probably good for you like Guinness, the company you keep.