Vegemite (/ˈvedʒɪmɑɪt/) is a dark brown savoury food paste made from yeast extract, used mainly as a spread on sandwiches, toast and cracker biscuits, as well as a filling of pastries like Cheesymite scroll, in Australia and New Zealand. Australian English is a non-rhotic variety of English spoken by most native-born Australians Yeast extract is the common name for various forms of processed Yeast products that are used as food additives or flavourings A spread is a food that is spread with a knife onto Bread, crackers, or other bread products A sandwich is a food item made of two or more slices of Bread with one or more layers of a filling Toast is sliced Bread which has been browned by exposure to dry Heat ("toasted" A cracker is a type of Biscuit that developed from military Hardtack and nautical ship biscuits A cheesymite scroll is a spiral of baked Bread with Vegemite and Cheese baked into it For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island It is similar to British and New Zealand Marmite and to Swiss Cenovis. Marmite (/ˈmɑːmaɪt/ is the name given to two similar food spreads a British version produced in the United Kingdom and South Africa and the other in New Cenovis is a product based on Yeast extract similar to Vegemite and Marmite, rich in vitamin B1.

Vegemite is made from leftover brewers' yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacture, and various vegetable and spice additives. Yeasts are a growth form of eukaryotic Microorganisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with about 1500 Species currently described A by-product is a secondary or incidental product deriving from a Manufacturing process a Chemical reaction or a biochemical pathway and is not the primary product Brewing is the production of Alcoholic beverage and Alcohol fuel through fermentation. The taste may be described as salty, slightly bitter, and malty - somewhat similar to the taste of beef bouillon. Bouillon, in French cuisine, is simply a Broth. This name comes from the verb bouillir, meaning to boil. The texture is smooth and sticky, much like peanut butter. It is not as intensely flavoured as Marmite and it is less sweet than the New Zealand version of Marmite. Marmite (/ˈmɑːmaɪt/ is the name given to two similar food spreads a British version produced in the United Kingdom and South Africa and the other in New

Vegemite is popular with many Australians and New Zealanders, who commonly consider it a national food and a cultural icon. A cultural icon can be an Image, a Symbol, a Logo, Picture, Name, Face, Person, or Building ^[1] It can be found in shops around the world, particularly where there are large populations of Australian expatriates. The Australian diaspora refers to the approximately 750000 Australian citizens who today live outside Australia Vegemite has not been successfully marketed in other countries, apart from New Zealand, and has failed to catch on in the United States, despite being owned by US food company Kraft Foods. Kraft Foods Inc ( is the second-largest Food and Beverage company headquartered in North America (behind PepsiCo) and the third When seen in the United States, the Vegemite label often does not contain the Kraft logo.

Contents 1 History 2 Vegemite and cheese 3 United States ban rumour 4 Nutritional information 5 Advertising and branding 6 Australian slang usage 7 Popular culture 8 References 9 See also 10 External links

History

Vegemite was invented in 1923 by food technologist Dr. Food tech room MarlingJPG|thumb|300px|right|The food technology room at Marling School in Stroud Gloucestershire. Cyril P. Callister when his employer, the Australian company Fred Walker & Co. Cyril Percy Callister ( 16 February 1893 &ndash 5 October 1949) , following the disruption of British Marmite imports after World War I, gave him the task of developing a spread from brewers' yeast. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Callister had been hired by the chairman Fred Walker. Fred Walker ( January 5, 1884 - 21 July, 1935) was an Australian businessman and founder of Fred Walker & Co ^[2] Vegemite was registered as a trademark in Australia that same year. A trademark or trade mark, represented by the symbols ™ and ®, or mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual The registration was later transferred to Kraft, a US multinational, which has maintained an interest in Vegemite since the 1920s. In 1919, New Zealand company Sanitarium began manufacturing a version of Vegemite's biggest competitor, Marmite, and shipping it to Australia. The Sanitarium Health Food Company is a food company in Australia and New Zealand that produces a large range of breakfast cereals as well as a range

The name Vegemite was selected out of a hat by Fred Walker's daughter, Sheilah. Faced with growing competition from New Zealand Marmite, the product was known from 1928 to 1935 as Parwill, leading to the convoluted advertising slogan, "Marmite but Parwill. " that is, "Ma [mother] might like the taste but Pa [father] will. " This attempt to expand market share was unsuccessful and the name was changed back to Vegemite. Market share, in Strategic management and Marketing, is the percentage or proportion of the total available Market or Market segment that is Today Vegemite far outsells Marmite and other similar spreads in Australia.

Vegemite and cheese

During the 1990s, Kraft released a product in Australia known as Vegemite Singles. It combined two of Kraft's major products into one. The product consisted of Kraft Singles with Vegemite added, thus creating Vegemite-flavoured cheese. Kraft Singles is a pasteurized cheese product manufactured and sold by Kraft Foods, introduced in 1947. This expansion of the Vegemite product line was an attempt by Kraft to capitalise on the enormous popularity of Vegemite and cheese sandwiches (made by placing a slice of cheese into a Vegemite sandwich). Vegemite Singles were later taken off the market, possibly due to poor sales.

United States ban rumour

In October 2006, the Melbourne newspaper, the Herald Sun incorrectly reported that Vegemite had been banned in the United States, and that the United States Customs Service had gone so far as to search Australians entering the country for Vegemite. The Herald Sun is a morning Tabloid Newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia Until March 2003 the United States Customs Service was the portion of the U The story appears to have originated from an anecdote from a traveller who claimed to have been searched, and a spokesperson for Kraft who made a misinformed comment to reporters. The story led to some anti-American comments in blogs and newspapers. The Herald Sun blamed the US President for the ban, and encouraged readers to post comments on its website and send emails to the White House. George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States.

The US Food and Drug Administration later stated that although it is technically illegal in the US to add folate to food products other than bread or cereal, there were no plans to investigate whether Vegemite contains folate, to subject it to an import ban, or withdraw it from US supermarket shelves. Folic acid (also known as Vitamin M and Folacin) and Folate (the Anionic form are forms of the water-soluble Vitamin B9 The United States Customs and Border Protection also tried to dispel the rumour, stating on its website that "there is no known prohibition on the importation of Vegemite" and "there is no official policy within CBP targeting Vegemite for interception". The United States Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP known as U ^[3] The story of the "ban" later took on the status of urban legend. An urban legend or urban myth is a form of modern Folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them ^[4] While Vegemite has never been popular in the U. S. , it can still be purchased at supermarkets that stock imported food items. ^[5]

Nutritional information

Vegemite is rich in B vitamins, but unlike Marmite and some other yeast extracts, it is not artificially fortified with vitamin B12. The B vitamins are eight water-soluble Vitamins that play important roles in cell Metabolism.

Advertising and branding

Vegemite's rise to popularity was helped by marketing campaigns begun in 1954, using groups of smiling, attractive healthy children singing a catchy jingle entitled "We're happy little Vegemites". The year 1954 in television involved some significant eventsBelow is a list of Television -related events in 1954. A jingle is a memorable Slogan, set to an engaging Melody, mainly broadcast on Radio and sometimes on Television commercials. The two young twin girls who sang this advertising jingle were known as the "Vegemite Twins". In March 2007, Kraft announced that they are trying to trace the original children from the campaign to celebrate the advertisement's fiftieth anniversary.

Australian slang usage

This jingle gave rise to an Australian slang expression "happy little Vegemite" – a happy person. Spoken Australian English is thought to be highly colloquial, possibly more so than other spoken variants This first became popular in the 1950s. Since then it has also been extended, ad hoc, to various similar expressions, such as "good little Vegemite" and "clever little Vegemite". The term is also used in the (often humorously intentioned) derogatory slang for a male homosexual in "Visitor to Vegemite Valley", referenced by the Barry Humphries character Sir Les Patterson. John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE (born 17 February 1934, Kew, Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian Dr Sir Lesley Colin Patterson is a Fictional character portrayed by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries. In the film Hercules Returns, Hercules worriedly asks "Does this mean that I'm a visitor to Vegemite Valley"?

Popular culture

• Vegemite was referenced in the lyrics of the 1982 worldwide song "Down Under" by Men at Work:

I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"

He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich. Hercules Returns is a 1993 Australian Comedy film directed by David Parker, starring David Argue, Michael Carman, Hercules is the Roman name for the Mythical Greek hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. Marmite (/ˈmɑːmaɪt/ is the name given to two similar food spreads a British version produced in the United Kingdom and South Africa and the other in New " Down Under " is the title of a pop song of Reggae flavour written by Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, recorded in 1981 by the Australian For the 1990 movie "Men at Work" see Men at Work (film.

• The original 1986 lyric to the John Williamson song "True Blue" included the lines "Is it standing by your mate/ When he's in a fight?/ Or just Vegemite?" later Williamson changed the final line to "Or will she be right?"
• Vegemite is also mentioned in Williamson's song "Home Among the Gum Trees": "You can see me in the kitchen/ Cooking up a roast/ Or Vegemite on toast". John Robert Williamson AM (born 1 November 1945 in Quambatook, Victoria) is an Australian Country music True Blue is an Australian Folk song written in 1981 by singer-songwriter John Williamson. Williamson sang both songs at the memorial service for Steve Irwin. Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006 known simply as Steve Irwin and Nicknamed " The Crocodile Hunter " was an iconic ^[6]
• The West End theatrical comedy The Vegemite Tales written by Melanie Tait tells the story of a group of young Australians living in a London flatshare. The Vegemite Tales is a comedy theatrical production written by Australian playwright Melanie Tait
• In the Discworld novel "The Last Continent", Rincewind inadvertently invents Vegemite, or something very similar. Discworld is a comedic Fantasy Book series by the British author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat Rincewind the Wizzard is a Fictional character
• The theme for the LarryBoy character briefly mentions Vegemite at the end of the song.
• The Nickelodeon show Rocket Power referenced to Vegemite sandwiches often. Rocket Power is an American Animated television series that aired from August 16 1999 until July 30 2004 on
• In The Simpsons episode, Bart vs. Australia, examples of a short lived 1980's Australian obsession included a footlong Vegemite Subway Sandwich. " Bart vs Australia " is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons ' sixth season, which originally aired on the Fox network Subway Restaurants, commonly known as Subway, is a Fast food restaurant franchise that primarily sells Sandwiches and Salads called
• In America (The Book) by Jon Stewart, Vegemite becomes edible after drinking 21 beers. America (The Book A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction is a 2004 non-fiction Bestseller written by Jon Stewart and other writers of Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28 1962 is an American Comedian, Satirist, Actor, Writer, and

References

See also

• Ambient food
• Bovril
• Cenovis
• Guinness Yeast Extract
• Marmite
• Natto
• Promite

External links

• Vegemite.com.au
• Vegemite Song and images

Ambient food is Food which can be stored for long periods at Ambient temperature (21°C-70°F Refrigeration. Bovril is the trademarked name of a thick salty Beef extract sold in a distinctive bulbous jar Cenovis is a product based on Yeast extract similar to Vegemite and Marmite, rich in vitamin B1. Guinness Yeast Extract, commonly known by its initials GYE, was an Irish savoury spread made from Yeast extract. Marmite (/ˈmɑːmaɪt/ is the name given to two similar food spreads a British version produced in the United Kingdom and South Africa and the other in New is a traditional Japanese food made from fermented Soybeans popular especially for Breakfast. Promite (ˈproʊmaɪt is the registered brand name for a dark brown salty food paste mainly used as a spread on sandwiches and toast similar to the better known Vegemite and

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