Prisoner loses challenge to an Australian state’s ban on inmates eating Vegemite

npc99

When I first heard about the case, I assumed prisoner was suing because he was being forced to accept toast with vegemite already on it or something, but turns out it was the opposite lol

kleiba2

> Vegemite is typically considered an acquired taste at best by those who weren’t raised on it. +1

comrade1234

From the article it's not clear if the problem with the drug-sniffing dogs is false-positives or false-negatives. So don't start hiding your drugs in vegemite just yet.

mrkeen

The judge upheld prison authorities’ argument that McKechnie had failed to provide any proper foundations for his opinion that Vegemite does not interfere with drug sniffer dogs. What is the null-hypothesis, who is making a claim, who has the burden of proof?

zulux

As a religious person, I find this ruling troubling. We bend over backward for religious dietary restrictions. Why not sincerely held secular dietary restrictions and convictions? I also suspect the ruling would have been deliberated more if this wasn't an Australian inmate requesting Australian foods.

aunty_helen

This goes against the vibe of the constitution.

moi2388

“ Vegemite had been banned throughout the state’s 12 prisons for the past 20 years because it could potentially impair sniffer dogs’ ability to detect narcotics and could be used to brew alcohol because of its yeast content” Well yes, but you can brew alcohol out of almost anything. Also, everything “potentially” impairs sniffers dogs ability. Including attention. The question is, does it actually?

ChrisRR

> As a Jew who observed kosher law > serving a life sentence for murder Well which is it?

drooopy

Vegemite is more like a human rights violation.

ghusto

Vegemite? Is that like shit Marmite?

howard941

This article deserves its own headline: Murderer’s bid to eat Vegemite in Australian prison rejected by judge And the court actually found Vegemite to be a cultural right, just not important enough of a right to overrule the prison system, so there's the problem with the headline.

mjcarden

The part that puzzles me is where he states that he'd been let out on parole (where presumably he could access Vegemite) but didn't like it and chose to go back into custody: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-26/vic-vegemite-prison-c...

smoll

> taste for the spread strongly correlates with early exposure and to Australian birth and ancestry i guess this is the most aussie thing about me. i lost my accent ages ago but i still crave a vegemite sandwich from time to time.