Australian foreign minister tweets that New York airport authorities tried to confiscate his supply
Australia's foreign minister has said American authorities tried to confiscate his supply of Vegemite as he entered the US. It is the second time this year that the yeast extract spread has sparked high-level – if lighthearted – diplomatic disagreement.
Kevin Rudd tweeted on Sunday that airport authorities in New York had questioned his bringing in the dark brown paste, a byproduct of brewing beer that is popular among many Australians on sandwiches, toast and crackers.
"Only problem travelling to NY is that they tried to confiscate our Vegemite at the airport. Needed foreign ministerial intervention," Rudd tweeted from New York.
"Airport staff were surprised when I said it is good for you & I ate it for breakfast. They then waved me through," he added.
Vegemite was also a source of disagreement when Julia Gillard made her only visit to the United States as prime minister in March. She and the US president, Barack Obama, visited a high school in Virginia where an 11th grade student asked what Vegemite was.
"It's horrible," Obama exclaimed.
"I love Vegemite," Gillard said, noting that their opinions of the spread served as a "little bit of division" between the two of them.
The Australian invention, launched in 1923, has a high vitamin B content and is marketed heavily on its health benefits for children. Australians abroad commonly bemoan how difficult Vegemite is to find.
It sparked international curiosity when "a Vegemite sandwich" was mentioned in the lyrics of the Australian band Men at Work's hit song Down Under, which topped the US and British charts in 1983.
The former prime minister John Howard claims more Australians know the lyrics of a Vegemite advertising jingle written in 1954 than know the Australian national anthem.
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