Gordon Ramsay has been forced to defend his reputation after it was revealed he uses ready-made food at one of his restaurants and in his gastro pubs.
A spokeswoman for the celebrity chef, who has said it is a crime not to use fresh food, issued a statement after The Sun newspaper revealed that pre-prepared food was being bought in, heated up and sold with mark-ups of up to 586 per cent at one of Gordon's high-profile restaurants and three of his gastro pubs in London
Foxtrot Oscar in Chelsea, west London, uses a kitchen facility in Wandsworth, south London, to prepare components of dishes which are then cooked and sold at the restaurant, the chef's spokeswoman said.
"Gordon Ramsay Holdings operate a kitchen facility in Wandsworth called GR Logistics (which was purchased from Albert Roux)," she said.
"Here Gordon Ramsay chefs prepare components of dishes devised and produced to the highest Gordon Ramsay standards.
"These are sealed and transported daily in refrigerated vans and all menu dishes are then cooked in the individual kitchens."
She went on: "This is only for the supply of Foxtrot Oscar and the three pubs and allows each establishment to control the consistency and the quality of the food served. GR Logistics also supply a number of other restaurants outside the group with prepared components."
But in an interview promoting The F Word on Channel 4 in 2007, Gordon said: "Using fresh ingredients is the only way to guarantee a great taste and I can't understand how on earth people can ignore fresh food.
"That's where all the flavour is, all the goodness, and it's a crime not to use it."