Brit expats aghast as Denmark bans Marmite
Marmite-loving Brit expats living in Denmark have expressed their shock and dismay at the government's decision to ban the legendary yeast-based spread, on the grounds that it contains "too many vitamins". The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration has invoked a 2004 law concerning nosh "fortified with added vitamins". …
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Too right...
... even Carrefour sells it.
And Hula Hoops too!
And... and...
Baked beans, an' Polo Mints, an' gingernuts! I even saw Irn Bru once. Intermarché sells jellies around here, all I need for torturing the natives.
Seriously, we need to set up a Black Ops team, smuggling the salty nectar of yeasty yumminess to our beleaguered compatriots in Hamlet-land under cover of Schengen.
Cryptic messages delivered over the radio, WWII style, could alert our contacts to the point of delivery. We shall have to adopt codenames, of course, so that if one of us is caught by a minion of the Danish authorities, they cannot give away the others' names, even under torture (such as being forced to listen to Lars von Triers' 'jokes' for hours en end).
Britons, arise! The very basis of our freedom is being threatened! They will not control us!
Foreign nosh
It's amusing to see what French supermarkets stock in the "foreign foods" bit. The UK section invariably contains Branston Pickle, Roses Lime Marmalade, HP Sauce and McVitie's digestives.
Marmite, on the other hand, could justifiably be classed in the toxic waste section...
Highlights the usefulness of the EU actually
When you turn up at the borders of lonely Latvia with this unknown toxic concoction, they know its actually decent because the EU says so. They don't have to ban it first until they carry out their own tests.
Denmark are allowed to then implement their own laws. If they decided to ban it, then were overruled by the EU and had to allow it after all, THEN something would be very wrong.
Daily Mail dislikes this then?
I didn't expect the Daily Fail to be against the rights of a state (Denmark, or the UK) to NOT follow a dictat from Brussels.
"What am I supposed to put on my toast now?"
Something edible?
Thanks
That's my morning laugh sorted out. Strange how two simple words can really brighten your day.
RE: Something edible
I'm upvoting you for that. Personally I prefer SKUB.
http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF020-Skub.gif
Win
Loads of free advertising for Marmite here. I cant imagine they sold much of it in Denmark anyway - its not fishy enough.
@AC
Yeah - it's strange how an adman and a graphic designer are the only ones commenting about this?
If there are protests about this..
The news footage will look exactly like a Marmite advert, I bet their marketting department are loving this, even if the sales people aren't!
Fortified with vitamins and iron!
Have they banned cornflakes too?
Yes
Click through to the Guardian link in the article, and you'll find this telling phrase:
"Food giant Kellogg's withdrew some brands of breakfast cereal from Denmark when the legislation passed in 2004."
@Johnypanic
Nah, Paris is more like Bran Flakes: "Tasty, tasty, very very tasty"
@Chris Miller and Jonypanic
I think she is more like Marmite than anything else. Love her or hate her, she is easy to spread.
Re: @Chris Miller and Jonypanic
"I think she is more like Marmite than anything else. Love her or hate her, she is easy to spread."
Not to mention all the yeast...
Bovril on toast is far better
And I've not heard of it being banned... Although having just looked at the ingredients I expect it won't be long until the Danes get it wrong again.
daily mash
<quote Yorkshire-born graphic designer Lyndsay Jensen, resident in Copenhagen, reckons the clampdown is less about excess vitamins, and more to do with simple culinary xenophobia. She splendidly thundered: "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." />
I could have sworn I was reading the daily mash for a moment there...
The Mail
So the Mail is complaining that the EU can't force one of its laws onto a country that has unilaterally decided against it? There's consistency for you.
F*ck the Daily Mail, and all who read it.
The consistency is having a dig at the EU. For whatever reason they can make up.
While i agree with your 'fuck the mail' line.
I sometimes browse it when issues like this crop up just to laugh at the hys comments.
Currently the readership is torn between being angry at foreigners or selfishly glad because they don't like it, and obviously everything they don't like shouldn't exist.
Reminds me of the student protests "bloody students, why aren't they out protesting about things /i/ care about".
Daily fail...
Day 1: Marmite causes cancer.
Day 2: Marmite cures cancer.
Day 3: EU overrules British law!
Day 4: EU fails to overrule silly Foreign law!
(Actually you could get all these stories the same day).
(Actually you could get all these stories the same day).
On the same page, side by side
And what same day would that be?
All these articles appearing together? The singularity! Maybe on Oct 21. When the rapture will again fail to happen (or fail to involve a noticeable number of Xtians).
Next day, DM: "olive-skinned prophet J.C. (age 2016), of no fixed abode but formerly of Nazareth, AGAIN FAILS TO MAKE GOOD".
What amused me ...
... is the fact that the scientist who first discovered this lovely product whilst working for the brewery around 1900 is the great grandfather of a relative of mine.
He was Danish.
Wasn't he German
"When German scientist, Liebig discovered that brewer's yeast cells could be concentrated, bottled and eaten, Marmite was as close to being invented as it's possible to be, without actually having being invented..."
http://www.marmite.com/love/history/birth-of-marmite.html
Sounds like
an Apple product.
Apple? Marmite?
Okay. Fine. Never mind.
Wait, whut?!
They're banning it because it has 'too many' vitamins? Admittedly it's been a while since I was at University, but aren't excess vitamins simply excreted?
It depends...
...on whether they are water soluble vitamins (like vitamin C), or fat soluble ones (like vitamin A). An huge dose of vit C is likely to just give youy diarrhoea (and possibly kidney troubles), whereas a huge dose of vitamin A would make your skin peel off, and cause liver failure, leading to death. As fdar as I am aware, Marmite, being made from the excess yeast from the brewing industry, is high in B vitamins, of thse B3 (Niacin) and B6 are potentially dangerous in high doses. Of course, to get a high enough dose of these to be harmful from Marmite, your salt intake would probably have killed you first.
Excreted?
Some vitamin excesses are excreted or metabolised, some aren't. The ones that aren't can build up to dangerously toxic levels. I think I've read of people dying of chronic massive Vitamin D overdosing. Vitamin A is supplemented as beta-carotene rather than the vitamin, because the body turns carotene into vitamin A as needed, but can't get rid of a surplus of the actual vitamin.
The B vitamins (in Marmite) are excreted. In fact your body can't maintain a stockpile, so Marmite on toast every day is likely a good thing (but watch your salt intake). Tastes nice too!
Danes should be able to buy Marmite by mail order from another EU country. It would be against EU rules to block such imports (as well as totally impractical).
The Danes are being inconsistent. Vitamin C is also known by its E-number. It's commonly added to a huge range of foods as an anti-oxidant preservative (in quite small amounts compared to eating an Orange, let alone a Kiwi fruit, but even so, it is an added vitamin suppplement! )
only the water soluble
only water soluble vitamins are excreted. a,d,e and k vitamins are not
No
Too much vitamin A causes osteoporosis, which is a problem in Denmark because of all the herring they eat. I think this is a case of the Danes being ahead of the rest of us, and we'll probably start to see warnings on anything with added vitamins and, indeed, the mega-vitamin quack pills available off the shelf.
Never banned
Marmite has never been "banned" as such. Under Danish legislation, vitamins on their own or added to other substances qualifies as drugs - not food. Drugs requires licenses to be freely sold, as I am pretty sure they do in the UK. So the basic issue is: When/if you add vitamins to a substance in Denmark it makes it a drug, in the UK not.
I am actually quite happy someone keeps an eye on what snakeoilsalesman sell.
So this is a PR campaign orchestrated by the manufacturers and distributors. You think? No shit Sherlock :)
(Yes, I am a dane living in sick porn producing, Toksvig xporting, Lars von Trier and Hitler supporting Marmite banning Denmark)
Buy British Bacon & Megablocks
Much better quality meat
Megablocks is as good as Lego
BTW I hate Marmite
Shoe on other foot
It's all "yay" when the UK does a one-up on the EU but all "boo" when another country does it?
Bollocks
Never seen any made from any type of toy brick.
My children have a large lot of the stuff - no real difference between BTR Lego or Megablocks
Blasphemy
Megablocks are bought exclusively by parents who don't really love their children.
Re: Megablocks
What about sticklebricks?
Oh to be a child again.
You goddamn whippersnappers
Go away and let me play with my Meccano!
Fortified foods
... including - yes - some breakfast cereals, but also vegemite, ovaltine, horlicks, certain cough sweets etc. are forbidden in Denmark because the authorities are worried that the food industry will fortify unhealthy products (such as sugary soft drinks or potato crisps/chips) and then sell them as health foods.
In theory it sort of makes sense, if you are a bureaucrat with one eye on the public health budget, but in practice the law hits very wide of the mark. Meanwhie Danes (like the rest of Europe and especially USA) still guzzle thousands of litres of sugary soda, which enjoys plenty of advertising exposure, even on kids' tv - despite regular reports about how harmful it is. Not to mention the unhealthy amounts of pork, and dearth of vegetables, in the typical Danish diet.
The ban applies to sales, and possibly also wholesale import of all fortified foods. Possession and importation for personal use is not covered by this particular law. The same ban was introduced in Norway some years ago, but now it is legal to sell Marmite again there as long as it is sold as a vitamin supplement, rather than a foodstuff.
I live in Denmark, I love marmite and I think this law is utterly stupid. Don't get me started on the stupid Danish restrictions on over-the-counter medications.
Sauce....
for the goose is good for the gander
Ban Danissshhh bacon !!
(flame for cooking obviously)
Spain
It's available in Carrefour here, not that I'd buy it! (However they have just started selling Branston pickle!)
By the way it is contra-indicated with some medications and medical conditions...
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