First it was Marco Pierre White who came out of the kitchen closet, confessing that many of his restaurant recipes owed their flavour to the Knorr chicken stock cube.

Now other top chefs have admitted their junk food secrets, although these are the snacks they love to eat.

For Angela Hartnett, the Michelin-starred head chef at the Connaught, happiness is processed sliced white bread.

In the June edition of the BBC's Olive magazine, she says: "Cheap white bread is essential to such British classics as the chip buttie, which I've loved since I was a kid, and the crisp sarnie of course."

For Michelin-starred Tom Aikens, life does not get any better than a packet of salt and vinegar crisps. "It's their ultra-acidic and salty flavour combination," he says.

Bryn Williams, head chef at Odette's, is another crisp fiend, admitting: "Sitting in front of Sky Sports, I can get through two or three packets."

Mark Hix, executive chef at Caprice Holdings, which owns the Ivy, insists it's all about Snickers. "That chocolate, peanuts and nougat combination - it's the one thing I crave," he admits. John Burton Race of the New Angel in Dartmouth reveals: "I get through two KitKats a week."

Claude Bosi, formerly of double-Michelin-starred Hibiscus in Ludlow, admires Pot Noodle, saying: "It's perfect when I'm too tired to cook."

However, the chefs' culinary weaknesses pale in comparison to those of one Olive reader. He (or she) emails: "I get a loaf of thinly sliced white bread (the cheaper the better) and a Pukka minced beef and onion pie with a huge portion of chips.

"The bread, coated in margarine, is used to make chip butties, which are eaten with the pie. The final touch is a bottle of vintage brown sauce."