Loaf behind bars: Aussie inmate says Vegemite a human right

SYDNEY — Simply tasting Australia’s Vegemite spread might seem like cruel and unusual punishment to some, but one prison inmate from the land down under argues he should be allowed to enjoy the toast topping as a basic human right.

Convicted murderer Andre McKechnie has sued the prisons commissioner in the state of Victoria in a novel bid to eat the quintessentially Australian condiment.

McKechnie argued that he had a right to eat Vegemite because it was “his culture as an Australian”, according to court documents released to AFP.

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Vegemite has been banned inside Victoria’s jails since 2006 over fears the yeast-laden spread could be used to brew makeshift alcohol known as “pruno” or “hooch”.

Inmates can also smear sticky Vegemite paste across contraband to mask its smell from sniffer dogs, according to an official list of banned prison items.

McKechnie’s complaint pointed to Victoria’s human rights charter, which states no one should be denied the opportunity to “enjoy their culture”.

Vegemite was first concocted in Melbourne in the early 1920s to address wartime shortages of British Marmite.

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A Melbourne council in 2022 declared that the distinctive smell wafting out of a local Vegemite factory held “significant” heritage value.

An Australian aerospace company stashed a small jar of Vegemite in the nose cone of an orbital rocket test-launched earlier this year.

But the acquired taste of Vegemite is not to everyone’s liking.

Vegemite was in 2018 featured at Sweden’s “Disgusting Food Museum”, ranking alongside fermented herrings, monkey brains, and maggot-infested cheese. /dl