Australian owner of Toronto café chain fighting Ottawa to save $8K of Vegemite

It's hard to get any further from Australia than downtown Toronto, so for a dual-citizen like Leighton Walters, the quickest way to be transported home is to take a bite of Vegemite on toast.

The yeasty spread, made from the byproduct of beer production, is hard to find in Canada, but back in Walters' home country, it's part of the national fabric. For five years, he says he's been importing jars of the stuff to offer at Found Coffee, his chain of Australian-inspired cafés in Toronto.

Until recently, Found Coffee sold jars of Vegemite directly to customers, who could also order Vegemite on toast or pastries with the spread baked in.

"I grew up as a Vegemite kid ... eating it for breakfast every second day," Walters told CBC Toronto. "It's an iconic Australian product ... we've been so proud to serve it to thousands and tens of thousands of Australians, Canadians, travelers and tourists."

But earlier this year, Canadian regulators flagged his latest shipment of Vegemite, which is only produced in Australia. After inspection, they told Walters he would have to pull the item. The reason behind the decision has left Walters — and the local expat community that buys his imports —  frustrated and confused.

"Pulling Vegemite off our shelves hits at the core and the heart of our brand," he said.

"It would be similar to a Canadian entrepreneur moving to Australia, starting an amazing poutine shop and then bringing in this beautiful, sort of high quality, unique maple syrup from Canada, and then the Australian government turning around and saying, 'No you can't serve that maple syrup because the trees weren't in a controlled environment when they were tapped' or 'They're too sweet.'"

It's also put roughly $8,000 worth of Vegemite, which Walters has already paid for, in jeopardy.

Emails provided to CBC Toronto by Walters show that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) told him in January that the batch of Vegemite was non-compliant with Health Canada regulations.

"The Vegemite product being sold was found to have added vitamins which are not permitted in this product as per the Food and Drug Regulations and is therefore not permitted to be sold in Canada," a CFIA spokesperson told CBC Toronto in an email. 

"As a result, the café was informed of the non-compliance and voluntarily removed the product from its menu and retail offerings."

Some products, like cereals, white flour and certain juices and milks, may be sold with added vitamins under Canada's Food and Drug Regulations, but spreads and condiments aren't included in the list.

All Vegemite products are fortified with Vitamin B, according to the product's website, suggesting no Vegemite products should be permitted to be sold in Canada.

That's not the case though. It's still available to purchase at specialty retailers around the country and is sold online by Amazon Canada. CFIA confirmed in its email that Vegemite is not banned in Canada.