Australian PM says he stands by Toronto café owner in Vegemite fight with Canadian regulators

Ethan Lang · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 15, 2025 1:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

A Toronto café concatenation warring Canadian nutrient regulators for support to support selling Vegemite present has the backing of the Australian premier minister.

Leighton Walters, an Australian-Canadian dual national who owns the Aussie-inspired Found Coffee concatenation successful Ontario, was precocious ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to region $8,000 of Vegemite from his shelves and products. 

After an inspection of a shipment he'd imported this winter, the CFIA deemed the Vegemite non-compliant with Health Canada regulations. Although it's a staple successful Australian households, the yeasty dispersed is enriched with Vitamin B, which is lone permitted successful definite products successful Canada.

Walters has stopped selling the product, but is inactive warring the decision. After taking his communicative to the media past week and contacting the Australian Trade and Investment Commission for help, he's present garnered the enactment of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

At a quality league successful Australia Tuesday, reporters asked Albanese if helium had a connection for Canada successful effect to the dispute.

"I basal with the Aussie café owner," Albanese said. "I emotion Vegemite. It's a bully thing. I did perceive the study connected that. It's alternatively unusual that they're letting Marmite in, which is rubbish, frankly."

Marmite, a akin yeasty dispersed made successful the U.K. that's besides enriched with vitamins, was explicitly deemed ineligible for import by the CFIA successful a connection successful 2020, aft a shipment was mistakenly rejected. 

Albanese didn't accidental whether he'd beryllium contacting Canadian officials astir the CFIA decision.

WATCH | Australian-Canadian café proprietor warring regulators implicit Vegemite removal: 

The CFIA said successful a connection Sunday that Vegemite is not prohibited for merchantability successful Canada, but manufacturers indispensable change the merchandise to marque it compliant with regulations. 

However, the CFIA isn't alert of immoderate Vegemite merchandise that is produced to beryllium sold successful Canada successful compliance with Canadian regulations, according to the spokesperson. 

Since each Vegemite products are enriched with vitamins, that would suggest the merchandise should beryllium prohibited for merchantability successful Canada. Despite that, the merchandise is disposable for acquisition connected Amazon Canada's website and astatine specialty retailers astir the country.

A spokesperson for Health Canada said successful an email that the summation of vitamins is constricted to definite foods "to assistance guarantee that Canadians get capable but not excessive amounts of definite nutrients successful their diet."

Walters says he'd been selling jars of Vegemite and offering it connected toast and successful pastries astatine his cafés for 5 years earlier immoderate contented arose.

Walters told CBC Toronto that CFIA has besides ordered him to destruct the Vegemite helium removed from his shelves. The agency's spokesperson denied that successful an email Sunday, saying Walters was lone ordered to region the merchandise from his shelves.