CELEBRITY chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay have had a massive impact on what people eat, according to a report published today.

Almost six out of 10 Britons questioned in a poll claimed their cooking habits had been altered by watching cookery programmes on television.

Women have been influenced the most, with 64% saying culinary stars from the small screen help determine what they cook on a regular basis.

The survey, by market researchers Mintel, found 26% of participants claim to have tried a new dish after watching it cooked by a TV chef and 21% say the same programmes had made them more adventurous in the kitchen.

Despite the number of chefs having moved into TV, just 16% of the 1,473 adults polled thought there were now too many.

James McCoy, a senior analyst at Mintel, said: "These days the media plays a very large role in our lives and this is true also of our cooking habits.

"Today many adults have been inspired to change the way they cook and experiment more with new recipes.

"Overall the findings certainly suggest that cooking programmes bring a higher profile to cooking and wield real influence on what people cook at home, encouraging viewers to try out the less familiar for themselves and to become more adventurous with their cooking."

Around three out of 10 adults said they experiment with a wider range of ingredients than ever before and 24% thought the quality of what they use had improved, according to the poll. Tweet