A popular Italian chef has come under fire after he likened vegans to members of a sect and claimed he would “kill them all” during a TV cooking show.

Gianfranco Vissani, the chef and restaurateur, made the comments during a discussion on cooking programme In Onda about molecular gastronomy, The Local reports.

Mr Vissani responded to his co-presenter’s description of molecular gastronomy as a “lifestyle,” with the words: “What do you mean, like vegans?”

He then went on to say: “Vegans are like [members of] a sect, they’re like Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Another chef on the programme, Davide Oldani, told him “don’t say such rubbish”. Mr Vissani responded by claiming: “But it’s true,” adding: “And I mean vegans, not vegetarians. What would I do with the vegans? I would kill them all.”

Many people reacted angrily on social media, with one person tweeting that Mr Vissani was “proof that meat is bad for you”.

Veganism has proven a controversial topic in Italy and legislation has been proposed to imprison parents who impose a vegan diet on their children.