THE SPREAD STAYS BANNED! A convicted murderer serving life in Australia has lost his bid to overturn a ban on prisoners eating Vegemite, the BBC reported.
Andre McKechnie, 54, argued the ban in Victoria’s prisons, in place since 2006, denied him the right to “enjoy his culture as an Australian.” On Monday a Supreme Court judge rejected his appeal, saying his “cultural rights are limited primarily by the fact he has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment.”
Why ban a breakfast spread? Victorian authorities say inmates could use the strong-smelling paste to disguise contraband or brew alcohol. Corrections Victoria told the court the smell can even distract sniffer dogs hunting for drugs. McKechnie also claimed the ban broke rules requiring food that keeps inmates healthy, but the judge said that hadn’t been proven.
McKechnie got a life sentence for stabbing a property developer to death in Queensland in the 1990s, and was later transferred to Victoria. No luck there either: Vegemite is also banned in jails in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.
The salty yeast spread was invented in Melbourne more than a century ago and first hit shelves in 1923.
Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.
Sources: BBC News
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