Danish embassy issues MARMITE WAFFLE

Following yesterday's news that the Danish authorities had deprived Brit expats of their favourite yeast-based nourishment, the country's London embassy has seen fit to clarify the position vis-à-vis Marmite.

According to this official statement, neither Marmite nor its Oz rival Vegemite are banned in Denmark, because they've never actually been approved for sale.

A 2004 law controls the distribution of products with "added vitamins, minerals or other substances", and in order to punt such foodstuffs, they "need to be approved by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration before the product can be marketed".

The statement adds: "The Danish Food and Veterinary Administration has not received an application for marketing in Denmark of Marmite or similar products with added vitamins or minerals."

In effect, then, those shops selling Marmite are dealing in unauthorised enhanced substances.

We and the Daily Mail have no doubt that any attempt to legalise Marmite would be met with a swift rejection, in defiance of EU directives on free trade. As Copenhagen-based expat Lyndsay Jensen put it: "They don't like it because it's foreign. But if they want to take my Marmite off me, they'll have to wrench it from my cold dead hands." ®

Bootnote

Thanks to Simon Riley for the yeasty tip-off.