Yay for celebrity chef fights--down with farmed salmon!

December 10, 2004

WHEN foodies fall out, watch out - not so much for the custard pies,

but a slap in the face with a fish à la Monty Python. In this case, it

is a farmed salmon.

Clarissa Dickson has branded Oliver a " whore " over his

latest advert for Sainsburys, which has led to an investigation by the

Advertising Standards Authority over whether claims about the

healthiness of farmed salmon can be justified.

In the advert, the cheeky chappie visits a Highland salmon farm and

smokehouse, claiming its salmon are " healthy because the loch is so

cold " .

The housewives' favourite toy-boy is also accused of hypocrisy for

promoting farmed salmon, a product he refuses to serve in his London

restaurant, Fifteen, which featured in the Channel 4 series 's

Kitchen.

Clarissa, a critic of farmed salmon, does not mince her words. " He's a

whore, it's as simple as that. I would never endorse a product that I

would not use. If I were to endorse something it would be something I

believe in. " She adds: " There was a time when the public were prepared

to believe in celebrity endorsement but now I think it is beginning to

wane. "

Bruce Sandison, of the environment group Salmon Farm Monitor, said:

" In my view, Oliver is completely ill-advised to use his

position as a celebrity chef to promote a product which is basically

fat and unhealthy. Where is this farm? If it's a paradise of

environmental probity, then surely they should be prepared to tell us

where it is. "

The forum on 's official website has been inundated with

complaints. On the website, Begg, a research and development

chef at Fifteen, states: " wouldn't normally go near farmed fish

- we certainly don't sell it in the restaurant - but we thought this

was a better product and a step in the right direction, and that's why

he went with it. "

Funnily enough, the forum was shut down yesterday when the Diary tried

to visit it.

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