Love it or loathe it, Kraft Vegemite has been part of the Aussie breakfast, lunch and snack ritual for more than 85 years. But with our changing food and health environment, it’s no great surprise to hear that there’s a new happy little Vegemite on the block. Let’s take a look at the reformulation……can you guess the changes?
Nutrients going up
The new formulation has more vitamin B12 and B6, and added iron in a serve size of 2.5g or 1/2 of that specified for original Vegemite.
| Nutritional Information | ||
| Servings per Package: 60 Serving size: 2.5g |
||
| Avg. Qty per serve | Avg. qty per 100g | |
| Energy | 23kJ | 932kJ |
| Protein | Less than 1g | 24.6g |
| Fat -Total -Saturated |
Less than 1g Less than 1g |
Less than 1g Less than 1g |
| Carbohydrate -Sugars |
Less than 1g Less than 1g |
28.1g 4.7g |
| Sodium | 43mg | 1720mg |
| Thiamine (B1) | 0.27mg | 11mg |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 0.21mg | 8.6mg |
| Niacin (B3) | 1.25mg | 50mg |
| Folate (B9) | 50μg | 2000μg |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.17mg | 7mg |
| Vitamin B12 | 0.25μg | 10μg |
| Iron | 0.6mg | 24mg |
Nutrients going down
But the big (no-brainer) news is the 50% sodium reduction. Which is no doubt partly influenced by active anti-salt campaigners AWASH, who point out the high salt load young children are now getting from their background diet of processed foods. I’ll be interested to see if AWASH acknowledge this as a step in the right direction, especially the smaller serving size. Rather than slather it on, the advice may be that “only a suggestion is needed” like this early Vegemite ad from one of my retro cook books.
Sticklers for tradition
Of course everyone will debate the marketing sophistication after the failed Kraft isnack 2.0, but the big question is the taste. My opinion? It’s remarkably similar to the original without a noticeably big difference in saltiness, to my palate at least. A clear message to the rest of the food industry that sodium reduction can be achieved. And there will no doubt be a number of (big kid) dietitians who make the switch, by all reports on Twitter today.
But there are some who are sticklers for tradition and a bit stuck in their ways, if this interview with Kochie and Kraft spokesperson Andra Gough below is anything to go by. Great job Andra…what a doozy.
So thanks for your patience on this one international readers, it’s not every day that an icon gets a makeover. Make sure you try Vegemite if you’re ever given the chance. And now let’s open up for your reactions and comments below. What do you think?