Jeremy Corbyn has said he is increasingly eating vegan food but Labour has denied he is switching to a diet without animal products.

The Labour leader said he was “going through the process” of eating more vegan food after decades of being a vegetarian because it is improving in quality.

But a Labour spokesman denied he was in the process of becoming a vegan, saying he had simply meant to talk about eating more vegan-friendly food.

Corbyn made the comments when asked whether he would ever make the jump to veganism at an event hosted by Lush cosmetics.

He replied: “It’s a fair question. I eat more and more vegan food, and have more and more vegan friends, indeed there are quite a lot of vegan MPs actually – not a lot but there are some. I think what has improved so much is vegetarian and vegan food has got so much better in recent years.

“I got fed up of going on a plane in the 1980s and everyone would get their regulation rubber chicken and whatever with it.

“I would say ‘where is my lunch?’ and they would say ‘yours is a special meal’, like there is something badly wrong with you and they would bring this thing along. It was usually pretty grim when it got there.

“The food has got a lot better and vegan food – one of my close relatives has just become a vegan and I went to her house for dinner and it was absolutely brilliant.

“So I’m going through the process all right? I won’t go any further than that.”

Labour said the comments should only be taken to mean that he is eating more vegan food and not that he is adopting a completely new diet.

Vegans avoid all animal products including eggs and dairy, while vegetarians avoid just meat and fish.