A convicted murderer who argued in an Australian court that banning his access to Vegemite, a yeast-based spread, was a violation of his human rights, has lost a legal battle in which he sought permission to consume the delicacy from prison. Andre McKechnie, 55, who is serving a life sentence for murder in the South Australian state of Victoria, took his battle over the black-brown byproduct of brewing to the Supreme Court last year. 4:44 Jacob Elordi reveals his love for Vegemite while filming in the Australian outback. He argued that the rejection of Vegemite denied him his right, under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act, to “enjoy his culture as an Australian in the community with other people of Australian origin,” court documents seen by the Associated Press showed. Judge Claire Harris said prison authorities’ refusal to allow McKechnie Vegemite limited his cultural rights under the legislation, but the ban was justified as part of an attempt to remove illicit drugs and alcohol from the prison system. Get daily national news Get daily Canadian news delivered to your inbox so you never miss the day’s top stories. “The limitation on Mr McKechnie’s ability to enjoy Vegemite in community with other people of Australian origin is primarily that he is a prisoner,” he wrote in his ruling. Vegemite has been banned in all Victorian state prisons for 20 years because authorities say it could affect a sniffer dog’s ability to identify narcotics and its yeast content could be used to make alcohol. McKechnie, who defended himself in court, argued that because the neighboring state of New South Wales does not ban Vegemite in state prisons, demonstrating that there were “less restrictive means reasonably available” to prevent illicit substances from entering the system. He went on to say Vegemite does not interfere with sniffer dogs’ ability to detect narcotics and cited a 2017 Melbourne newspaper article that reported on a man’s failed attempt to use the pungent smell of the paste to conceal drugs he was trying to smuggle into a music festival in Victoria. Their efforts were marred by police dogs. He also argued that Vegemite does not contain live yeast and therefore cannot be used to prepare alcohol. A state corrections department director, Kevin White, cited publicly available research that said Vegemite helped homebrew ferment more quickly. McKechnie had previously testified that the lack of Vegemite in his diet had contributed to his thiamine, or vitamin B1, deficiency. More on Trends More Videos He later abandoned the thiamine argument, saying it was “not important,” after lawyers for prison authorities objected to evidence of a deficiency. McKechnie said not eating Vegemite made him feel “deprived” of his Australian culture, and made him “sad” and “disconnected” from his family and the wider community. The judge said it was “difficult to accept that the inability to consume Vegemite, rather than the fact of his imprisonment, is a material cause of his sadness and disconnection from his family and community”, and upheld the prison authorities’ argument that McKechnie had not provided any adequate basis for his view that Vegemite does not interfere with sniffer dogs. Vegemite is a culinary staple in Australia, and it is estimated that more than 80 per cent of households have a jar at home. It is generally considered an acquired taste. Variations of the variety are also extremely popular in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, where it is known as Marmite. Vegemite, which was invented in Australia in the 1920s, began as a version of Marmite, which was created in the United Kingdom in the early 1900s and shipped to Australia, where its popularity skyrocketed. Story continues below advertisement Australian Vegemite was developed as its own product with a distinct flavor profile and is made using a different recipe to British Marmite, which has a sweeter, syrupier texture. Vegemite tends to be denser and bitter. New Zealand Marmite also differs from its counterparts. The last US president to visit Australia, Barack Obama, once said that Australian Vegemite was “horrible.”–– With files from the Associated Press © 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.