As an avid fan of television chefs on both sides of the Atlantic, I think it is important to remember they are a product of theie education. For those who attended catering college, my guess is that their curriculum didn't emphasize balancing nutritional concerns with flavor, as is the trend now. Back then, nutrition was not the domain of culinary training, so these chefs either learned it on their own, or simply went on as they were taught. Should they be held accountable for their lack of training? Arguments can be made for both sides of that question; but, I think rather than point the finger, the medical community needs to work with catering colleges to be sure that future celebrity chefs will create recipes that are in line with WHO guidelines.

Competing interests: None declared

The comparison performed omitted a crucial point. Taste of the food should not be forgotten! It also contributes to health. “Better” (dietary) food doesn’t mean “better” (tasting) food! Healthy diet cannot be followed without taste and pleasure. One can postulate that supermarket ready meals and recipes by television chefs were not comparable regarding this criterion. Such comparison should have been included in the study. It should be considered like a risk/benefit ratio.

Competing interests: None declared

Physicians overestimate medicine and underestimate food. They forget that life is metabolism, which requires nutritious food to satisfy hunger and create health. So let's recognize that it's not how you look, it's what you cook; it's not what you say, it's what you saute; it's not what you do, it's what you chew; it's not what you deduce, it's what you juice; it's not what you think, it's what you drink; and it's not who you meet, it's what you eat. Food is live medicine; medicine is dead food.

Competing interests: None declared

In the 2012 Christmas Issue, Howard et al reviewed the macronutrient content of ready-made meals and of recipes of prominent TV chefs.1 They conclude that both fall short of WHO recommendations. To the authors’ apparent surprise, TV chef recipes score worse on fat, protein and fibre content than ready-made meals.

Food and food preparation is about a lot more than health. Our eating behaviour is informed by a large set of norms and values, including convenience, health, taste and cost. These values need not exclude one at other at all times, but sometimes they do. In such cases, we weigh them against one another in the context of a concrete meal. In the preparation of our annual family Christmas supper, we generally favour taste over convenience, appeal and prestige over cost and enjoyment over health. Other meals present different pictures.

TV chefs may have aligned themselves with the value ‘health’ from time to time, as Howard et al indicate. Jamie Oliver did it with his project on UK school dinners. However, a few exceptions aside, in the cuisine of prominent chefs (on TV, in Michelin-star restaurants or elsewhere) taste, appeal, experience and enjoyment triumph over health and often cost. TV chefs provide ideas and aim to stimulate creativity in home cooking – or plainly entertain an audience. In other words, recipes by television chefs are not about health and evaluating them as such will yield exactly the results Howard et al found.

TV chefs have, however, a very high ‘dietary credibility’, meaning that in all food related issues their voice is heard and respected.2 Often, and perhaps always, higher than public health scholars or nutrition scientists.3 With this credibility comes a certain public influence and connected responsibility. But this responsibility is a social responsibility, rather than a public health goal.

We have all noticed Jamie Oliver putting on some weight over last years. This has not harmed his dietary credibility at all, since it is fuelled not by (public) health values, but above all else by the appeal and taste of his meals and the entertainment they provide to watch on TV, read in his books, and try them at home.

1. Howard S, Adams J, White M. Nutritional content of supermarket ready meals and recipes by television chefs in the United Kingdom: cross sectional study. BMJ 2012;345.

2. Penders B, Vam Dam F, editors. Ingrediënten van Geloofwaardigheid. Goed Eten onder de Loep. Den Haag: BoomLemma, 2012.

3. Shapin S. Expertise, common sense and the Atkins diet. In: Porter JM, Phillips PWB, editors. Public science in liberal democracy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007:174-93.

Competing interests: None declared