# Does Vegemite spoil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576 "2005-08-25T16:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/1 "2005-08-25T16:05:00Z")
Yesterday I found an unemptied jar of Vegemite. (How did _that_ happen? 😕 ) So I had some on my breakfast burrito. I had another burrito this morning, using the same jar of Vegemite, and I noticed the ‘sell by’ date was 1996. Tasted just fine to me. So does Vegemite spoil? If not, why does it have a ‘sell by’ date? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/2 "2005-08-25T16:05:58Z")
How could you tell? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/3 "2005-08-25T16:10:38Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > How could you tell? :dubious: It tasted good. I’d assume if it were spoiled, it would’ve tasted bad. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/4 "2005-08-25T16:19:17Z")
I don’t think it spoils, but opened jars of Vegemite do get too hard to spread after a few years, so it’s difficult to use them. (Unless perhaps you mix the hardened Vegemite with butter or margarine, then use the mixture as a spread.) ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/5 "2005-08-25T16:20:24Z")
It is very similar to Marmite which does not spoil. They both have a very high salt content. Just make sure you don’t get crumbs into it or butter off a knife and it should last longer than you do. Of course the argument does stand as to whether it isn’t allready spoilt, being made from a waste product of the brewing industry. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/6 "2005-08-25T16:20:52Z")
I think only _food_ spoils… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/7 "2005-08-25T16:23:18Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > It tasted good. I’d assume if it were spoiled, it would’ve tasted bad. Since a lot of people think Vegemite tastes bad even when it’s good, it’s a rather difficult call to make. Actually, I lived in New Zealand long enough so that I started to spontaneously put the stuff on my toast. That’s when I knew it was time to go home. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/8 "2005-08-25T16:24:02Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > How could you tell? :dubious: That’s what I wondered. They say that honey is the only food that doesn’t spoil because they have uncovered jars preserved in ancient Egyptian graves. What will the history books say when archaeologists excavate Australia 5000 years from now? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/9 "2005-08-25T16:30:17Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > It tasted good. I’d assume if it were spoiled, it would’ve tasted bad. Again…how could you tell? :dubious: 😉 That reminds me of a line from _Wag The Dog_: “There are two things I know to be true. There’s no difference between good flan and bad flan, and there is no war.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/10 "2005-08-25T16:40:13Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > It is very similar to Marmite which does not spoil. They both have a very high salt content. Just make sure you don’t get crumbs into it or butter off a knife and it should last longer than you do. I do take care to wipe the marge off of my knife before putting it into the Vegemite. (And to wipe off the marge/Vegemite mixture before I spread the other toast.) > [@Giles](#): > > I don’t think it spoils, but opened jars of Vegemite do get too hard to spread after a few years, so it’s difficult to use them. Never had Vegemite get hard. Usually the jars don’t last long enough. I have the 2.5 kg pail though. It’s taking a little longer to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/11 "2005-08-25T16:51:23Z")
In case anyone’s interested, [here’s the product’s site](http://www.vegemite.com.au/). ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/12 "2005-08-25T17:21:52Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I don’t think it spoils, but opened jars of Vegemite do get too hard to spread after a few years, so it’s difficult to use them. I have found with Marmite that differing temperatures modifies the consistancy of the spread. From my own experience my Grandad didn’t eat marmite but kept it for us grandchildren when we came over, we were eating from the same jar for many years of visits without it ever changing taste or making us Ill. It seems far more stable than honey which tends to crystalise out the sugar after a while (though of course it doesn’t go bad when it does that). From examination of the ingredients Vegimite just seems to be Marmite with a little added maltose sugar. To my tastes it makes Vegimite weaker and less extermely savoury, I can well uderstand how people might prefer vegimite over marmite in a similar way people might prefer orange juice over grapefruit juice. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/13 "2005-08-25T22:14:25Z")
If it does spoil, it takes a very long time. I’ve eaten Vegemite from jars that have been at the back of the kitchen cupboard, unused, for at least 5 years and it’s still been OK. I think it lasts forever. ---
**Author:** ![VegemiteMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/df788c/32.png) [@VegemiteMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegemiteMoose)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-vegemite-spoil/318576/14 "2005-08-26T17:03:32Z")
Vegemite never spoils, just ages gracefully. C’mon, I **had** to respond to this thread