Vegemite Label: AZAdam, Flickr

Kraft Foods Australia launched a new Vegemite product earlier this year, asking aficionados to name the jars of Vegemite mixed with cream cheese. When the name -- Vegemite iSnack 2.0 -- was announced in September, Vegemite protests erupted on the Internet where fans blasted the name as "uStupid 1.0" and "un-Australian," the New York Times reports.

Four days later, Kraft announced it would hold another vote from a pool of more conservative choices including Vegemate, Snackmate and Vegemild. Vegemite Cheesybite was chosen through online and telephone voting. This is a very important issue if you're a fan of Vegemite, the "salty, gooey yeast paste" that Australians eat like Americans eat peanut butter, the Times reports.

Test your ketchup, mustard, and relish knowledge with our Condiment Quiz on Slashfood. Is ketchup considered a vegetable by the USDA and what are anchovies a key ingredient in? Find out here.

Vegemite -- the yeast-based savory spread that is a distant cousin of Marmite, and beloved by Kiwis and Aussies -- is getting a makeover for the first time in 85 years, the Times Online reports.

Kraft Foods surveyed hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders and Australians to find out how they took their morning dose of Vegemite, and found that many wished it was more easily spreadable, or paired it with cream cheese on toast. Thus, the new incarnation incorporates cream cheese and one other secret ingredient.

It remains to be seen whether those who love it will appreciate this new incarnation -- early indicators say "no" -- but the company is cleverly reaching out to those who love it to give this new Vegemite product a new name. Early submissions include "I Just Mite," indicating that rabid fans might just adopt this newcomer.

[Via Times Online]

Today (January 26th) is Australia Day and one way that some of our friends down in summery Australia are celebrating is with Vegemite gelato.

The combination sounds slightly horrifying to anyone who doesn't already love Vegemite, the salty brewers' yeast paste that, like Marmite, is popular on toast in many parts of the world, but for those who enjoy its flavor, the combination is proving to be a popular seller for its creator. Gherardo Deflorian is from Italy and has a gelato shop, Gelateria Cremona, in Brisbane. Not a fan of Vegemite himself, he thought that the flavor would be unique, a little controversial and a bit more interesting than the same old flavors that everyone uses. He had to have his customers taste the gelato in progress, as he just couldn't stomach the concoction himself, but it has been met with positive feedback from gelato (and Vegemite) fans who say that "it reminds them of when they were little and they had Vegemite on toast with butter."

With a new little niece around, I am becoming more and more aware of what little babies and toddlers eat. Cheerios and goldfish crackers always seem to the be the snack of choice, and dinner-time foods are always finger-foods like chicken nuggets and peas. However, kiddies around the world don't eat the same way. Heck, growing up in a Korean household, I'm quite sure I was wrapping up little balls of rice in nori and spilling soy sauce all over myself. If you've ever wondered what a two-year-old in South Africa is eating, check out this list:

• Japanese toddlers may not be eating sushi, but they do lunch on egg-flavored rice with broiled fish or seafood and miso soup with tofu. It's no wonder that Japan has the longest average lifespan, with the types of foods that are introduced into the diets as such a young age.
• In South Africa, kiddies eat toast thats been spread with a touch of Marmite, a concentrated yeast spread that is a by-product of the beer brewing process.
• If it's Marmite in South Africa, it's Vegemite in Australia, spread on Ryvita crackers
• Danish and Swedish kids eat meatballs and lots of other meat and potatoes. Sweden has the world's highest consumption of ketchup, which kids put on to disguise anything that looks healthy.
• In India, children eat khidchi, a spicy rice and lentils porridge.
• They even list kids in Korea! Korean kids eat lots of kimchi, which is probably how they build up such a tasty tolerance for spicy foods. They also eat gim-bahp and bibimbahp.