Tom Kerridge blasted for eating puffin on trip to Iceland

Tom Kerridge has been blasted by animal activists for eating puffin on a trip to Iceland.

The celebrity chef tweeted: "So today I've eaten puffin, guillemot, whale and horse....Gotta love food experiences....

Some users didn't take too kindly to the information, with one writing: "Nooooo you can't eat puffins :( x."

And animal campaigners definitely didn't like it, with Mimi Bekhechi, of the campaigning group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, telling the Mirror: "He's showing himself to be colder than the weather in Iceland."

Puffins are not currently endangered, but numbers are declining rapidly. According to the Daily Telegraph, winter storms in 2014 wiped out 25 per cent of the populations in Europe.

The paper adds that America is currently considering adding puffins to its red list, and in the UK puffins are protected on the amber list of Birds of Conservation Concern. The RSPB said puffins in the UK are safeguarded by law, and are "protected at all times".

Iceland does have the world's largest breeding colony, with around 10 million of the world's 15 million population living there.

The meat is seen as a delicacy in the country and is eaten raw or smoked. Kerridge also admitted to eating whale meat, which tourists are often shocked to find on the menu in Iceland.

According to the Daily Mail, a spoksperson for Kerridge said: "Tom would never knowingly eat an endangered species. He is aware that puffin are not endangered in Iceland."

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