I never thought much about Marmite until I moved to New Zealand. I always believed it to be horrible, dreadful stuff, of course, but now its existence has become a personal affront, since my Kiwi son-in-law, who loves the stuff, has passed that love on to my wee granddaughter. Which means I have to purchase and keep a jar of it in my house at all times.

Funny how this spill has gotten everyone talking about it. At the Pakistan Daily Times, there’s an interesting piece on its origins (http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\30\story_30-11-2011_pg9_6 ), which ends with this bit of news: “...in May it was banned in Denmark for being a potential threat to public health for containing added vitamins. Rice Crispies, Shreddies, Horlicks and Ovaltine were similarly affected.” Added vitamins are now a threat?

I tried Marmite many years ago when I worked with an Indian fellow whose wife sent him off to the office with dainty little Marmite sandwiches for his afternoon tea. Well, he offered me one after I raised my eyebrows at them, and I'm here to confirm that the stuff is ghastly. Not only does it have that yeasty, vitamin-ey thing going for it, it's super salty.

Re making foods with added vitamins illegal: Come to think of it, there doesn't seem to be any vitamin-fortified food here in NZ, not even vitamin D in milk. I think it's been in U.S. milk for a very long time, hasn't it?

All very strange.

I like marmite, but it's not in my top ten edibles.

I loved Dr. Pepper as a kid, until someone told me it contained prune juice. (Don't think that's actually true, though.) Anyway, I think I’m known as a finicky eater, so maybe my verdict on Marmite shouldn’t be taken as gospel.

The thing about very salty foods like marmite, vegemite and my personal favourite promite is that you are meant to spread them very thin. If your toast is hot and you have lots of butter with a small scraping of the stuff then - yum! It is a well known fact that Americans don't know how to eat it properly :)

I would have guessed the same as Louise. Marmite is simply revolting if it is not spread thin. But spread thin on good bread and butter it can be delicious. One can readily imagine an American laying it on like peanut butter and blaming the consequences on the Crown.

Dr Pepper is an abomination. I don't know how anybody can drink it without gagging.

Marmite is delicious, but only in small doses (to be spread *very* thin). It is, basically, brewer's yeast.

I wanted to press "like" on expat's and Paul's comments! We had a couple of lovely Americans staying with us during WYD08. Tom saw the jar of Vegemite on the shelf and looked at the ingredients. "hey! This is just solid beer with salt!" :)

Hey, I'm just quoting one of your compatriots! But no, when it comes to the "solid beer" spreads, I am entirely with the Crown. Besides, Australia isn't a republic yet and like it or not HM QE2 is our Queen.

I realise, of course, that things would be much better if I were the Queen of Oz, but we have to work with what we've actually got. :)

I can't believe I ever missed your post "Christ the Despot?"

I'm about to go over there and rant about my plans to rule the world...

I really like Marmite. I have a friend who visits England regularly and brings me a jar back whenever I run out. It does remind me of anchovies, esp. anchovy paste, but with a yeasty flavor instead of a fishy one.

Also, speaking of Dr. Pepper, when I was in college in Dallas I met some folks who drank it hot. They would heat it up and drink it in winter time like tea, with a twist of lemon. The heating process makes it lose its carbonation, and as a result it tastes less sweet. It was actually pretty good. I haven't drunk it that way in ages, and I don't know how it would taste nowadays, since it now contains HFCS instead of sugar.