Two sites and a news story

[hummingwolf]

The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online. If the theory of evolution isn't scary enough for you, try:

Hauntworld--The Biggest Haunt Finder Network on the Internet. (Both of these sites recommended by Yahoo in the last week.)

But nothing in those haunts could possibly be as scary as Vegemite, which has been banned in the US. As supergee says, "When Vegemite is outlawed, only outlaws will have Vegemite. (At least it's not a weapon of mass destruction, like Sudafed.)"

I happened to copy an earlier article Supergee linked to this morning, so here's the text:


Happy Vegemites?
We don't think so

Kelvin Healey

http://www.news.com.au/sundayheraldsun/story/0,21985,20623197-662,00.html

THE US has banned Vegemite, even to the point of
searching Aussies for jars of the spread as they enter
the country.

The bizarre condiment crackdown was prompted because
Vegemite has been deemed illegal under US food laws.
The great Aussie icon -- faithfully carried around the
world by travellers from Down Under -- contains
folate, which under a technicality, the US allows only
to be added to breads and cereals.

Australian expatriates in the US said enforcement of
the ban had been gradually stepped up and was now
ruining lifelong Vegemite on toast breakfast
traditions.

Former Geelong man Daniel Fogarty, who now lives in
Calgary, said he was stunned when searched for
Vegemite while crossing the US border on a trip to
Montana recently.

"The border guard searched our car and asked us if we
were carrying any Vegemite," Mr Fogarty said.

"I was flabbergasted.

"The official said Vegemite wasn't permitted in the
US."

Paul Watkins, who owns a store called About Australia
in San Antonio, Texas, said he had been forced to stop
importing Vegemite six months ago.

"We have completely stopped bringing it in, which has
been hard," he said.

Mr Watkins said some companies were flouting the law
by continuing to import Vegemite and hoping the
shipments would not be inspected.

Comments

[rhiannasilel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but they sell the nasty English equivalent, Marmite, at the Giant near me so go figure.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Yep, I've seen that at the Giant near me too. A vegetarian former housemate used to eat the stuff all the time to make sure he got enough B vitamins.

[darth-spacey.livejournal.com]

Marmite is the sheezy, y'all. I haven't checked the ingredients list for folate, but I guess it would be easy enough to do...

[rhiannasilel.livejournal.com]

Actually the ingredients are on the same site:

http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/marmite.htm#whatare

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

In other news, the CDC wants people to take more Folic Acid. (http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/index.htm)

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

And they want us to get it by eating lots of fortified cereals, apparently. Why do I get the feeling some packaged food industry lobbying group is behind the ban on Vegemite?

[darth-spacey.livejournal.com]

I have to agree that the FDA (besides being illegal in and of itself, and please don't get me started on the list of quangos I'd disband) is even more under the corporate thumb than the Legislature, and accountable to even fewer people.

STRICT CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT! IT WAS WRITTEN THAT WAY FOR A REASON, YOU POWER-HUNGRY MORONS! AURGH!

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, after all the reading I did about the drug industry a while back, I found I was even angrier at the FDA, Congress, several presidential administrations, and the news media than I was with Big Pharma itself. While the pharmaceutical folks are terrifically skilled at manipulating the government to their own ends, I rather doubt the FDA becomes suddenly sweet, helpful, and innocently useful when food is involved rather than drugs.

Personally, I'd be all in favor of the FDA if they were there to ensure that consumers know exactly what's in our food and drugs, that the manufacturers, growers, and packagers list every ingredient and provide enough data so we can all make informed choices. Unfortunately, that isn't even remotely what the FDA actually does.

IT WAS WRITTEN THAT WAY FOR A REASON, YOU POWER-HUNGRY MORONS! AURGH!

Heh. Power-hungry morons are why my political party is generally whichever one of the big two isn't currently dominant. The people who aren't in control are much more supportive of civil liberties than the people who are.

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Why else would they ban a food item for containing an ingredient that is allowed in other food items? Clearly it isn't because they feel the ingredient is harmful. Who on earth gave these guys the power to restrict ingredients to particular kinds of food items?

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Not only is it not harmful, but I think it's required in certain kinds of products. Guess the bread & cereal folks just want the folate monopoly here.

[lizjonesbooks.livejournal.com]

Unreal.
Course,it tastes pretty nasty, speaking as one who was not fed vegemite from birth...I suppose they'll be banning green leafy veggies next.
That I *would*miss.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

That icon is perfect for this post. :-)

[darth-spacey.livejournal.com]

That Darwin link is made entirely of win, btw. There are so very many works that could use the same diligence and hardwork in their onlinification. The closest I've seen to it is a copy of some Tibetan Buddhist scriptures that is (IIRC) only available to members of the British Library via a single physical terminal inside that august building. The world needs more of this kind of site -- much, much more.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

The world needs more of this kind of site -- much, much more.

Agreed.