This week the debate around iconic Aussie food names blew up again. The mighty potato scallop was at the centre of the debate, but other culinary delights were also dragged into the argument.
This included the 90s process school meat of choice – devon. Apparently there is some disagreement when it comes to this label to the extent that someone at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) took to Wikipedia to add their name of choice.
This edit was discovered by the @AussieParlEdits Twitter account, which publishes anonymous edits to Wikipedia from Australian parliamentary and government IP addresses.
The account was inspired by the @congressedits account, which is currently suspended.
Other recent edits reported by the account include changes to the ‘Cool Math Games wiki’ by someone in the Northern Territory Government and changes to the ‘This Guy’s in Love with Yo’ wiki by someone within the Australian Department of Parliamentary Services.
One of its most recent posts shows an edit to the ‘Devon (Sausage)’ Wikipedia entry which added an an alternative name for the processed meat – Strass.
“Also commonly referred to as Strass, from the word Strassburg,” reads the edit.
Devon (sausage) Wikipedia article edited anonymously from Australian Taxation Office https://t.co/R3xlstn681 pic.twitter.com/Z6GAtHHt6x
— Aussie Parl&Gov WikiEdits (@AussieParlEdits) January 16, 2020
The original entry also refers to devon as ‘bung fritz’, which is what it is apparently referred to as in South Australia.
You can take a closer look at the edits here:
While the ATO has not confirmed whether an employee used its IT equipment to make the edit, it did state that its staff members are expected to use it primarily for work use.
“The ATO expects all employees and contracted individuals to comply with a proper use of information technology equipment policy,” said an ATO spokesperson in an email to Gizmodo Australia.
“Employees are expected to use ATO supplied IT equipment for work purposes only, noting some exceptions for limited personal use.”
It’s also unclear what the ATO’s official stance is on whether the meat should be referred to as devon, strass or bung fritz.