‘Pro-Vegemite’: Albanese backs cafe owner as Canada cracks down on iconic spread

This is no bread-and-butter diplomatic incident.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has thrown his support behind Vegemite after Canada’s food inspection agency demanded the famous spread be removed from a Toronto cafe. Talk about elbows up.

Leighton Walters, an Australian-Canadian cafe owner, shared his “shock” on Instagram after receiving a letter from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordering him to destroy an $CA8000 ($9132) shipment of Vegemite, and to remove the spread from his menu because it has added B Vitamins.

Walters said he was “absolutely floored” that the concern over added B vitamins only applied to Vegemite, and that British-made spread Marmite, which also has added B vitamins, was deemed compliant by the CFIA.

Asked about the Vege-fight at a press conference on Tuesday, Albanese came to the cafe owner’s defence and said he was “pro-Vegemite”.

“I stand with the Aussie cafe owner,” Albanese said. “I love Vegemite, it’s a good thing.

“It’s rather odd that they’re letting Marmite in, which is rubbish, frankly. Let’s be clear here. Pro-Vegemite, anti-Marmite. That’s my position,” Albanese said.

In 2020, the CFIA issued a statement clarifying that Marmite was not banned for sale in Canada after a shipment was mistakenly rejected.

“These products have been available on Canadian store shelves for more than a decade and will continue to be sold in stores across Canada,” the statement read.

Canadian news outlet CBC reported Walters has been importing Vegemite for his chain of Australia-inspired cafes in Toronto for five years.

Walters said the agency’s double-standard on Marmite and Vegemite made no sense.

“Despite Amazon and major grocery stores continuing to profit off the sale of Vegemite and similar products like Marmite, for some reason, our genuinely Australian/Canadian coffee shops offering a healthy slice of home away from home, is seemingly worth targeting,” Walters posted.

“As someone born with a birth defect, this is deeply personal. Vegemite is high in B vitamins and folate, that helps minimise the likelihood of babies being born with conditions like mine and living through the pain my family and I have throughout my life so far.”

Despite the inconsistency from the regulator, the CFIA told CBC that Walters was informed of the non-compliance and voluntarily removed the product from his cafe.

“The Vegemite product being sold was found to have added vitamins which are not permitted in this product as per the Food and Drug Regulations and is therefore not permitted to be sold in Canada,” a CFIA spokesperson told CBC in an email.

“It is a manufacturer’s decision if they want to produce and sell a Vegemite product in Canada that is compliant with Canadian requirements.”

Vegemite’s website states that the B vitamins in the spread include thiamin B1, riboflavin B2, niacin B3 and folate.Credit: Alamy

CBC reported that the CFIA confirmed in its email that while the importation of Vegemite is not banned in Canada, the “formulation that was sold at the cafe does not meet Canadian requirements established by Health Canada”.

Bega Group, owner of Vegemite, said in a statement,“While we’re limited in our ability to influence the outcome, we’re sending our support to Leighton, his team and the Found Coffee community.”

Walters said he will continue to fight to get Vegemite back on his menu at Found Coffee.

“This is now a huge battle that I really didn’t want to fight for the sake of $8000 worth of Vegemite that we have left, but I want to fight for my business, I want to fight for being true to who we are and who I am,” he said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Food Standards Australia New Zealand were contacted for comment.

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