Delia Smith attacked for putting too much salt in her new recipes
Delia Smith's current BBC series recommends many readymade ingredients instead of cooking from scratch with fresh produce
Delia Smith's latest batch of recipes could harm the battle to prevent heart attacks and strokes because they contain so much salt, it is claimed.
One portion of some dishes includes more than an entire day's recommended maximum amount of salt, say campaigners.
Delia's current BBC series, based on her best-selling book How To Cheat At Cooking, recommends many readymade ingredients instead of cooking from scratch with fresh produce.
Her 'Carbonara Real Quick', which uses cooked bacon and "lots" of Pecorino Romano, one of the saltiest cheeses available, contains more than 7g of salt per serving when the entire recommended daily amount per adult is 6g.
Thick pea and bacon soup serves up almost 6g per portion.
Health experts say the amount of salt in processed food hinders efforts to avert 19,000 deaths a year by encouraging Britons to cut their intake.
They are also puzzled why the doyenne of TV cooks uses prepared ingredients because, they say, it is just as quick to make the dishes from scratch.
Scroll down for more...
Delia's 'carbonara real quick' contains more than 7g of salt per serving when the entire recommended daily amount per adult is 6g
Top chefs, they say, should take responsibility for promoting sensible eating, while nutrition information should be included for every recipe shown on TV.
The figures for Delia's dishes were collected by the campaign group Consensus Action on Salt and Health.
They are an underestimate because they do not include any extra salt that she adds during cooking, says CASH chairman Professor Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at St George's Hospital in London.
He said: "Delia Smith has great influence over what we cook. She has been trusted by millions for years to provide easy, everyday recipes.
"It is a real pity that she seems to be unaware of the dangers of eating too much salt, and furthermore it seems as if these latest recipes have not been checked for their salt content.
"She is using processed foods like a can of minced beef that already has salt in, then often she is adding other ingredients that are very salty, such as capers and olives, then in some of the recipes she adds more salt into that.
"It is a bit irresponsible in general - not just Delia, because I do not think this is unusual amongst celebrity chefs.
"Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay are always adding salt to their food.
"The UK is currently leading the world in salt reduction. "The majority of our food industry is making huge efforts to reduce the amount of salt they add to food and the public is becoming much more aware that eating too much salt has severe health implications."
