An Australian-Canadian cafe owner has been ordered by the Canadian food regulator to scrape Vegemite off his menu. The prime minister skated in with elbows up.
What I read in the article is that they banned it because it had added vitamin B. They’re explaining, however, that Marmite wasn’t banned even though it also contains added vitamin B.
I had imagined that it had to be a specific B vitamin that Health Canada was worried about for an actual reason, but no. Apparently you’re just not allowed to add vitamins or minerals to foods in Canada unless they’re on a very specific list of exceptions for particular foodstuffs. For instance if you sell dehydrated potatoes the only thing you’re allowed to add is vitamin C.
So the question becomes WTF does Canada have against adding vitamins to things in general? How did that regulation come to be? Do other countries do it that way as well? Does Australia specify exactly which vitamins are allowed to be in vegemite when it’s sold there? Is there a reason why the Canadians wouldn’t simply add vegemite to the list when it’s pointed out that they haven’t got a category there that covers it? Eh well, whatever.
What I read in the article is that they banned it because it had added vitamin B. They’re explaining, however, that Marmite wasn’t banned even though it also contains added vitamin B.
Lots of things have B vitamins in them, so it seem unclear why that’s a problem.
Added B vitamins though. But like you said, in the article they mention that Marmite also has B vitamins and it isn’t banned. So… Why Vegemite?
I had imagined that it had to be a specific B vitamin that Health Canada was worried about for an actual reason, but no. Apparently you’re just not allowed to add vitamins or minerals to foods in Canada unless they’re on a very specific list of exceptions for particular foodstuffs. For instance if you sell dehydrated potatoes the only thing you’re allowed to add is vitamin C.
So the question becomes WTF does Canada have against adding vitamins to things in general? How did that regulation come to be? Do other countries do it that way as well? Does Australia specify exactly which vitamins are allowed to be in vegemite when it’s sold there? Is there a reason why the Canadians wouldn’t simply add vegemite to the list when it’s pointed out that they haven’t got a category there that covers it? Eh well, whatever.