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Vegemite Used To Make Alcohol In Australia's Dry Areas


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Vegemite used to make alcohol in Australia's dry areas

LUCY CORMACK

Last updated 08:07, August 10 2015

 

Australia's government said it wasn't seeking to place any restrictions on Vegemite.

 

Vegemite is reportedly being used to make homemade alcohol in dry communities across Queensland and the Northern Territory in Australia.

 

The problem has been described as prolific in some areas in the Northern Territory, with reported instances of people buying up to 20 jars of Australia's favourite spread at a time, for the brewing of homemade alcohol.

 

Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said the goal was for local communities to take a greater responsibility in restricting excessive sales of high-yeast products, rather than impose a legislative ban on the food products.

 

"The government is not seeking to place any restrictions on Vegemite or any other yeast product that may be used in home brew in remote communities," he said.

 

"Our priority has always been to get kids to school, make communities safer and get people into jobs. Businesses in these communities also have a responsibility to report any purchase that may raise their own suspicions."

 

There are 19 communities across Queensland where alcohol is limited or banned.

 

In 2013 the Queensland government said it was considering removing alcohol bans in certain communities, due to a growing increase in the production of homemade alcohol.

 

At the time there were also reports of other food and drinks, like Ribena juice, being used to produce alcohol.

 

"They're using a whole range of products and items that can be used to essentially ferment and turn into alcohol," said Selwyn Button, from the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council to the ABC in November 2013.

 

"It's anything that they can get their hands on that has the ability to ferment," he said, adding that the ingredients used in homemade alcohol are heavy in sugar and carbohydrates, common risk factors for health conditions like type 2 diabetes.

 

According to the Vegemite website, the spread was first produced in 1922 when the Fred Walker Company, which would later become Kraft Food Company, "hired a young chemist to develop a spread from one of the richest known natural sources in the Vitamin B group – brewer's yeast".

 

Brewer's yeast is a key ingredient used in the production of beer and ale.

 

The Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council has been contacted for comment.

 

There must be some dullards in Australian Media, and by association, the rest of the world's Media.

Making alcohol from Vegemite doesn't stack up, Vegemite is made from yeast, it is not yeast, anymore than crude oil is still trees.

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/70965484/vegemite-used-to-make-alcohol-in-australias-dry-areas

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