GUELPH - The owner of a Guelph cafe is making international news and rallying Australians everywhere after Canada’s food authority said he could no longer sell Vegemite.
Leighton Walters, who owns Found Coffee on Gordon Street, was shocked to learn the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the salty spread beloved by Aussies was not compliant with Canadian regulations because of added vitamins, and that his $8,000 supply must be pulled from shelves and destroyed or he would be fined $25,000.
Walters opened Found Coffee in Toronto in 2020 after moving from Australia, expanding to Guelph in 2022. Vegemite on toast was on the menu, as well as a popular cheesy pastry with a hint of the spread. Jars of it were also sold, which he imported himself to sell at a lower cost.
It was a way to bring a “slice of home away from home” to Australians across Ontario.
But it was pulled from their shelves after the CFIA said it did not meet the requirements established by Health Canada due to added vitamins “not permitted in this product as per the FDR (Food and Drug Regulations),” a spokesperson from the CFIA said. “(It’s) therefore not permitted to be sold in Canada.”
Over the weekend, he turned to social media to share why it was no longer on the menu.
“I had no idea where this story would go. I just wanted to, initially, just communicate to our community as to why they can’t buy Vegemite anymore, because I had received so many complaints,” he said.
It’s since turned into an international affair, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying he stands “with the Aussie cafe owner.”
Prior to speaking with GuelphToday, Walters had been contacted by the Australian High Commissioner, who represents the country’s government in Canada.
“It’s become a pretty significant political issue overnight,” he said, adding that the high commissioner let him know they’re working on addressing the issue behind the scenes.
He’s also been bombarded with Australian media requests and phone calls and emails of support over the last 24 hours, with people from across Canada and Australia giving him words of encouragement.
“I’m so incredibly grateful that I’m not alone in this,” he said.
Found Coffee staff and locals told GuelphToday it’s the only place in Guelph to buy the spread outside of Amazon, which sells it for a much higher price.
“There were people travelling from all over the GTA, all over Guelph,” to buy the product, he said.
It’s something Walters is passionate about, not only because it provides a taste of a far away home, but because of the very vitamins the CFIA is questioning.
Walters has spina bifida, a birth defect that can cause paralysis, scoliosis and neurological problems. In fact, he’s been fielding media requests and phone calls from a hospital bed, recovering from a related surgery.
“Vegemite is so high in folate that when people consume it, that minimizes the chance for anyone to be born with my condition and to go through the pain that I’ve been through in my life,” he earlier told TorontoToday, who broke the story. “So it’s very personal for me.”
While the CFIA specified it was the Vegemite product sold at Found Coffee (rather than all Vegemite), and noted the product is not banned, Walters said it’s the same product that is still available on Amazon and at other specialty retailers.
The product also hasn’t changed.
“It’s been consumed by Australians for over 100 years without any health concerns,” Walters said.
“This whole situation makes no sense, because for some reason, they think that the Vegemite that we’re selling and serving is different to the Vegemite that’s on Amazon and in other stores. They’re 100 per cent the same product.”
He said if the CFIA is going to enforce non-compliance, all retailers in Canada should be told to pull it from shelves, not just his small business “that’s just trying to sell some Vegemite on toast to a bunch of Aussies.”
Walters said he’s willing to work with the CFIA “to make them confident that this is a safe product to sell and serve in Canada.”
“To me, it seems like a government overreach,” he said.
The organization did not answer whether the spread has to be pulled from shelves across Canada, but said when inspectors see food products for sale that don’t comply, “they take appropriate action.”
The news was much to the dismay of Brian Holstein, a Guelph community member and storyteller who was born in Australia and moved to Guelph in 1999.
Found is the only place he knows in Guelph that sold Vegemite; until it opened its doors in 2022, he relied solely on what he could bring back from Australia.
“I just happened to go into Found one day. I heard an Australian guy owned it, so I thought I’d go in and chat with him. And there on the shelf was a jar of Vegemite, so I fell to my knees and wept and bought it,” he laughed.
When Holstein saw online that Vegemite was being taken off Canadian shelves, it put him into “immediate remorse and mourning.”
“Happy memories with Vegemite. It’s very nostalgic,” he said. “It’s what we would have on our sandwiches when we went (to school in rural Australia in the 40s and 50s). It would be plain, or with banana slices or something like that. Even at home, you might have Vegemite on toast.”
Though Vegemite is perhaps an acquired taste, Walters said it’s misunderstood.
Much like wasabi or miso paste, which don’t taste good on their own, it has to be eaten in the right context.
“A tiny bit goes a long way,” he said.
“I do hope the CFIA will reconsider their decision and at least come to the table to try to find some sort of resolution that will help us put the product back on the shelves,” he said.
– With files from TorontoToday