‘Makes absolutely no sense’: Australian café owner in Toronto removes $8K of Vegemite after CFIA deems product non-compliant

Found Coffee owner, Leighton Walters, has removed Vegemite off his store shelves and stripped it off the menu after the CFIA deemed the product 'non-compliant.' (Leighton Walters)

A café owner in Toronto says he has been forced to remove nearly $8,000 worth of Vegemite—an Australian pantry staple—from store shelves and strip it off the menu.

Leighton Walters, an Australian who moved to Toronto in 2019, opened up Found Coffee at the start of the pandemic. Since then, Walters says he expanded to four more stores in Toronto and Guelph and ever since their opening, they have been offering Vegemite to their customers so Canadians can have a “slice of Australia in the Great White North.”

But a recent inspection by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found the yeast-based spread lining Walters’ store shelves contained added vitamin B and folic acid, thereby violating food and drug regulations in Canada. Walters notes, however, that Vegemite is readily available through Amazon Canada.

There are a few Vegemite formulations, including one containing 40 per cent less salt which contains added B vitamins (B6 and B12). This was not the formula Walters bought, he says, as he purchased the century-old formulation.

“This situation makes absolutely no sense because Vegemite is Vegemite, no matter what jar it’s in,” Walters told Newstalk 1010’s John Moore on Tuesday morning.

A spokesperson for the CFIA said the Vegemite found at Walters’ cafes “did not comply” with Canada’s Food and Drug regulations. In the inspection report, reviewed by CTV News Toronto, the CFIA determined the Vegemite added vitamins and folic acid, and noted only select products are allowed to be fortified—like breakfast cereals and margarine.

“Sadly, for some crazy reason, some inspector at the CFIA didn’t really understand the product, didn’t really understand its purposes or its use, and started to question the ingredients in it,” Walters said.

Marmite—a similar yeasty spread made in the U.K. also rich in B vitamins—can be easily bought at grocery stores like Loblaws, something Walters pointed out and noted that Vegemite is, simply, the Australian version of the paste.

“In comparison to a similar product, Marmite, the manufacturer of Marmite produces a version of their product that meets Canadian requirements,” the CFIA said.

Australia’s PM weighs in

The news has travelled to Australia, and even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is weighing in, calling the situation “rather odd.” When asked about Walters’ café at a news conference in Australia earlier this week, Albanese said: “I stand with the Aussie café owner.”

“I love Vegemite. It’s a good thing. I did hear the report on that, it’s rather odd that they’re letting Marmite in, which is rubbish, frankly. Let’s be clear here, pro-Vegemite, anti-Marmite,” Albanese said.

Walters has removed all of the Vegemite from Found Coffee, though the inspection agency says it did “not direct the company to dispose of the product,” and that Walters did so “voluntarily.”

While the CFIA says Walters voluntarily removed the product, the cafe owner contests that is not the case.

“The CFIA absolutely instructed me to remove the product from the shelves and demanded it be removed from our menu effectively banning the product and told me that it will likely need to be destroyed,” Walters said.

Walters says he has contacted the Australian Trade Commission for next steps.

“I hope this doesn’t turn into one of those trade discussions, but, ultimately, from my point of view, Canada and Australia have a long, rich heritage of being friends and being part of the Commonwealth, and that will continue,” Walters said.

“I just really hope that this has all been a big misunderstanding and that either the Prime Minister of Canada or whoever can actually step in and make good on trying to understand the regulations.”