Celebrity chefs and TV cookery programmes are setting a bad example to millions by ignoring basic standards of hygiene, a leading doctor claims.

Dr Layla Jader said viewers watch chefs serve up salads without washing the ingredients and often forget to wash their own hands.

Chopping different ingredients with the correct boards and knives was also vital to reduce the chances of food poisoning, she said.

Celebrity chefs such as Ainsley Harriott and Fern Britton's husband Phil Vickery have come under fire for hygiene standards

Among the shows dropping culinary clangers are Celebrity MasterChef and Ready Steady Cook hosted by Ainsley Harriott and which features top chefs like Fern Britton's husband Phil Vickery.

Public health consultant Dr Jader said 'I really get frustrated, I've seen it so many times.

'They bring in the vegetables, they open the bag and they make the salad straight from unwashed vegetables.

'They do it for the sake of expedience but these programmes are watched by millions of people.  

'It's irresponsible. If they are going to do something that's not healthy they should say: 'We are in a hurry but please wash the salad and vegetables before you serve it'.

'In Ready Steady Cook they cut the salad from the windowsill. They also get the bag and open it on the table. I think we have to remember there are impressionable young people watching.'

Dr Jader, who works at the National Public Health Centre for Wales, was speaking at the British Medical Association's annual conference in Edinburgh.

She said people were at risk from food-borne illnesses such as salmonella and E-coli, especially as bugs that were harmless in healthy people could be very harmful to infants and the elderly.

She said 'Meat is usually contaminated with all sorts of organisms.

'At least with meat you are going to cook it but if you are using the same utensils, the same dishes and the hands are not washed in between, you are transferring all the germs from your meat to your fresh salads which you are going to eat fresh.

'Cutting boards should be different for different kinds of food.

'Food poisoning can be very bad, especially in hot weather. You might get away with it in the winter but not in the summer.'

Dr Jader said TV cookery programmes could be reinforcing public health messages, but they were mostly a 'wasted opportunity'.

She said restaurant toilets should also be checked by environmental health inspectors as these were a big source of bugs.

'When you go to a restaurant and you want to see the state of hygiene, you go to the toilet.

'Outbreaks of bugs are failures in the toilet which spill out to the kitchen. It's really interlinked, it's as basic as that' she added.

She blamed outbreaks of sickness and diarrhoea in schools on poor cleaning of the toilets, with budget cuts making it harder for standards to be maintained.

Dr Jader also called for a wider campaign to remind everyone to wash their hands.

She said 'I feel very strongly that we really need a national campaign to remind people that this is important. We are supposed to be an advanced society.

'We should move into the 21st century.

'Living in the fast lane Britain of today, unfortunately washing hands and cleanliness has become a chore for some. In my view only a national campaign will make a difference.

'I'm taken aback by the relaxation of basic cleanliness rules around the country when there's a huge amount of money going into the health service with hand-washing campaigns.

'We have forgotten that these doctors and nurses and other health professionals are part of a community. Basic cleanliness rules have been forgotten.

'You instill cleanliness in your children, you set a good example and children will follow.

'When you go a country, what's the first impression of that country? You go the airport and what do you do?

'You go to the loo. If you use a toilet that's clean and tidy, you feel reassured.'