FOOD NEWS
Vegemite Can Conduct Electricity (Not That You'll Ever Need It To)
By Christine Barba
Australia is known for Tim Tams, Lamingtons, pavlova meringue, and meat pies, but its most iconic food item has to be Vegemite. The spread is great on toast, bread, crackers, and sandwiches, but in 2015, Australian scientist Marc in het Panhuis, who teaches at Australia's University of Wollongong, found that Vegemite can also be used to conduct electricity.
The chemist demonstrates the process in a video, saying, “So what we start with is your normal household Vegemite that I just got from my own kitchen, and what we do in order to make it a little bit better, processable, we’ll put it in a household syringe.” He then shows how to ignite an LED circuit using Vegemite.
He says, “So I come in, complete the circuit between the LED and the battery [using Vegemite] and it lights up.” The scientist explains that Vegemite has properties like ions and water, which is what allows the paste to help conduct electricity, and adds that it can also start an LED when it is placed on bread.