MasterChef star John Torode has said seaweed could replace meat on dinner plates.
The marine plant is a good source of protein, the celebrity chef said.
The MasterChef judge, 54, told Good Morning Britain that he opposes allowing chlorinated chicken on to British dinner tables and that there are other, cheap protein alternatives.
“There is inexpensive food that you can live on and it doesn’t have to be whole hunks of protein,” he said.
Dev left @JohnTorode1 "properly blown away" with his first ever dish in the #MasterChefUK kitchen 👏👏👏Missed the show? It's available now on @BBCiPlayer – https://t.co/INSLCcJcnF pic.twitter.com/SJ9s5o0mar
— MasterChef UK 🍴 (@MasterChefUK) February 24, 2020
“There’s protein in chickpeas, there’s protein in peas, there’s protein in seaweed.
“Seaweed, for me, is going to be something which is going to be absolutely massive.”
His comments came after Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith endorsed crickets and mealworms as a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional farming.
Insects, which already form part of diets around the world, offer a “great hope for cheap protein” and “our squeamishness about eating bugs is misplaced”, she wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
It's a big welcome back to #MasterChefUK for last year's finalists @AsserDelia, @jillymccordcook and @irinitzo! 👋 pic.twitter.com/aTuK6OD4KI
— MasterChef UK 🍴 (@MasterChefUK) February 24, 2020
Torode also said he has “an issue” with the term “vegan sausage”.
“For me, the sausage has pork and fat in it, so you know what it’s got in it… With the vegan thing, what is in it? What are we eating?”
He said he is disappointed that MasterChef now airs later than it used to – at 9pm on BBC One.
“Of course you can get it on catch-up,” he said, but added: “For me it’s sad because the kids can’t watch it, the kids have all gone to bed.”
If you’ve been wondering what I did on my recent trip to Sri Lanka, here’s a little taster… the rest you can see today on @thismorning at 11:45 pic.twitter.com/m2C52AOodH
— John Torode (@JohnTorode1) January 16, 2020
It recently emerged that Australian-born Torode, who has lived in the UK since the early 1990s, had to use his Wikipedia page to help him obtain a British passport.
Torode, who is married to actress and presenter Lisa Faulkner, said authorities told him they had no evidence that he lived here and directed him to a Windrush helpline.
He confirmed to the ITV show: “I got a lawyer involved. I spent lots and lots of money, I went to many interviews.
“I even took my Wikipedia page to the Home Office… All the security people took lots of selfies…”
But he added: “I got a British passport about two weeks ago.”