Is this Channel 4’s most tasteless show ever?: Viewers blast new Gregg Wallace program that sees TV chef sampling ‘human meat’
- ‘British Miracle Meat’ is allegedly a take on the 1792 essay A Modest Proposal
Channel 4 has been branded as ‘beyond the pale’ after appearing to show Gregg Wallace and Michel Roux Jr eating human flesh.
The controversial broadcaster sparked new outrage with a satirical documentary about a factory which manufactured ‘engineered human meat’.
Billed as a solution for cash-strapped families, MasterChef host Wallace interviewed ‘donors’ who were selling their flesh to fictional firm ‘Good Harvest’.
The human tissue was then seen growing in labs into larger slabs of meat – which could be used to make steaks, burgers and sausages.
But MPs slammed the show as a ‘bad taste’ take on the cost-of-living crisis and criticised Channel 4 bosses for failing to warn audiences its subject was not real.
Channel 4 has been branded as ‘beyond the pale’ after appearing to show Gregg Wallace and Michel Roux Jr eating human flesh
Billed as a solution for cash-strapped families, MasterChef host Gregg Wallace interviewed ‘donors’ who were selling their flesh to fictional firm ‘Good Harvest’. The human tissue was then seen growing in labs into larger slabs of meat – which could be used to make steaks, burgers and sausages
Viewers followed Wallace, 58, as he visited Good Harvest’s HQ where staff explained how pieces of flesh was harvested from humans and grown into edible meat.
The TV star was then seen visiting donors including a 67-year-old retired receptionist who agreed to have flesh taken from her buttock and thigh in order to fund two weeks’ energy bills.
Good Harvest’s chief executive later revealed the firm’s premium range comes from the flesh of children aged six and below – with a promotional video which billed the womb as ‘nature’s oven’.
Wallace, who previously fronted BBC 2’s ‘Inside the Factory’, is well known for presenting documentaries about how food and products are made.
‘Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat’ is understood to be a take on satirist Jonathan Swift’s 1729 essay A Modest Proposal – which suggests that poor Irish families donate their children to rich English landlords for food.
However, there was no warning given ahead or during the broadcast to reassure viewers that it was fictional.
Confused and ‘disgusted’ viewers took to Twitter as the programme debuted, criticising Channel 4 for airing a show in such ‘very poor taste’.
‘Are you watching the British miracle meat on channel 4…it’s got to be a joke?! Human meat,’ one tweeted.
‘Who is watching Gregg Wallace, The British Miracle Meat, I feel sick.’ another echoed.
One viewer added: ‘What the fresh h**l are we being subjected to on @Channel4 now?’
Others – in an apparent joking manner – claimed that ‘if enough people vote Tory’ they will end up selling their flesh for money. And some even pointed to Brexit as the reason a ‘process banned in the EU’ would be allowed permitted in the UK.
One wrote: ‘I hope they start putting disclaimers on this satirical cannibalism show before eating the poor ends up in the government’s next election manifesto.’
At one point in the show Wallace and Roux Jr were seen tasting the steaks and two Michelin-starred chef Roux licked his fingers as he cooked.
The programme also included thinly-veiled jibes at the Government – with a Good Harvest employee member remarking that the machine used to grow the meat would have been banned under EU laws.
Wallace also said the new food source might be ‘the only attempt’ seen ‘to take the British cost-of- living crisis seriously’.
Other viewers were kick to identify the programme was a spoof documentary, with several alleging the criticisms of the Government and Brexit were an obvious giveaway.
‘I started watching this thinking was genuine, quickly became a spoof. Feel connned by C4,’ one viewer wrote.
Another added: ‘This #miraclemeat programme on @Channel4 is such a spoof it’s laughable. No trace of business online. The Brexit comment a few mins in was enough of a clue.’
‘A rather tasteless spoof that’s rather sick making. Supposedly it was a completely insane stunt by Channel 4 that makes a strong case over government inaction, spiralling energy costs and unsustainable food. I think not,’ one viewer wrote.
‘Completely unfunny spoof report. I can’t see what it’s trying to achieve,’ added another. ‘It’s only going to upset the gullible and make it harder to convince people to non-meat alternatives.’
Some viewers have indicated they have already issued complaints to Ofcom about the programme.
One tweeted: ‘I hope Ofcom have some extra staff on tonight.’
Another penned: ‘I’ve just watched less that 10 minutes of the British miracle meat whether this is satire or not it is abhorrent @Ofcom @Channel4.’
It is not the first time Channel 4 has sparked outrage with its programmes.
In 2020 the broadcaster was heavily criticised for creating a ‘deepfake’ version of the late Queen’s Christmas speech.
And earlier this year ‘Naked Education’ – a programme in which adults stripped off in front of teenagers to promote body positivity – amassed more than 1,200 Ofcom complaints.
Speaking ahead of the broadcast today, Lee Anderson, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, said: ‘Channel 4 has gone beyond the pale.
‘Brits struggling with the cost of living will no doubt find this attempt at humour in bad taste.’
Meanwhile Tory MP Giles Watling, who sits on the Culture, Media and Sport select Committee, said: ‘Something like this should have come with a health warning so that people are aware it is not factual and can make a choice on whether to watch it or not.
‘I am certainly not in favour of censorship and I think it’s wonderful that artists and comedians have the freedom to express themselves – but there are certain sensitives broadcasters need to be aware of.’ Wallace also referenced food bank charity Trussell Trust as the programme concluded.
The programme also included thinly-veiled jibes at the Government – with a Good Harvest employee member remarking that the machine used to grow the meat would have been banned under EU laws. Wallace also said the new food source might be ‘the only attempt’ seen ‘to take the British cost-of- living crisis seriously’
‘The Trussell Trust says a future without food banks requires a benefits system that works for all and secure incomes so people can afford essentials,’ he said.
‘So it’s no surprise that eating children seems a more likely path for our country.’
A spokesman for the charity said: ‘While referenced in it, the Trussell Trust had no involvement in the production of Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat.’
A Channel 4 spokesman said: ‘This “mockumentary” is a witty yet thought-provoking commentary on the extreme measures many people are being forced to take to stay afloat in our society during the cost-of-living crisis.
‘Channel 4 has a long and rich history of satire and has often used humour as an accessible way to highlight society’s most important issues.’
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