Wellington - A New Zealand food industry executive appealed to the government on Thursday to challenge Denmark over an import ban on Kiwis' favourite breakfast spread, Marmite.
The industry was “incredulous at Denmark's bizarre decision” to make Marmite illegal under food safety laws, Katherine Rich, chief executive of the New Zealand Food & Grocery Council, said in a statement.
Marmite, a sticky yeast extract first made in England in 1902, has been made in New Zealand since 1919. A food writer noted recently, “Marmite is undoubtedly part of Kiwi culture - generations have been raised to eat it on toast, with cheese and crackers or between bread with a slice of lettuce or a handful of chips.”
Reportedly first devised by a German chemist named Justus von Liebig, Marmite is said to be one of the world's richest sources of B vitamins, containing five of them - Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folate and B12.
The Guardian newspaper in Britain reported this week that imports of Marmite, along with its Australian equivalent Vegemite and the beverages Ovaltine and Horlicks had been banned under laws prohibiting products fortified with added vitamins.
“This weird law is not based on science, common sense or any issue remotely linked to food safety, factors which underpin New Zealand's approach to food safety regulation,” Rich said.
“It's hard to think of anything else Denmark has done in the last 50 years which has simultaneously annoyed citizens of New Zealand, Great Britain, Australia, South Africa - countries where people are hugely loyal to breakfast brands like Marmite and Vegemite.
“What obviously started as the bright idea of a misguided Danish official has now made Denmark an international laughing stock, no doubt creating a headache for their foreign affairs diplomats.”
Rich said that with all the other serious challenges for customs officials and border security presented by illicit drugs trade or terrorism, surely Danish regulators had more pressing priorities than expending resources on cross-border Marmite smuggling by expatriate New Zealanders and young people on their overseas experience travels.
Lyndsay Jensen, a Yorkshire-born graphic designer in Copenhagen, told The Guardian she would defy the ban and import supplies from Britain
“If they want to take my Marmite off me, they'll have to wrench it from my cold dead hands,” she said. -
Sapa-dpa