Nelson, who has written for HuffPost and Food Republic, told BuzzFeed News she was left shocked at the hostility of the emails and Sitwell's attitudes towards vegans.

"I've never seen anything like it," she said. "I've written about many divisive topics, like capital punishment and murder cases and domestic violence, and I’ve never had a response like that to any of my articles or pitches.

"And he's the editor. He’s representing Waitrose and he’s talking about 'killing vegans, one by one'?"



The food journalist added that she'd only been vegan for just over a year and wasn't judging anyone for how they eat.

"If William Sitwell wants to continue eating meat and hating vegans, that’s his prerogative, but to have this attitude towards others when he’s representing Waitrose is seriously bizarre.

"I wasn’t telling him to go vegan, or not eat meat, or that it’s bad to — I was just suggesting including some more plant-based recipes in the magazine."

In a statement, Sitwell said: "I love and respect people of all appetites be they vegan, vegetarian or meat eaters, which I show week in week out through my writing, editing and broadcasting. I apologise profusely to anyone who has been offended or upset by this."



A spokesperson for Waitrose said: "Even though this was a private email William’s gone too far and his words are extremely inappropriate, insensitive and absolutely do not represent our views." Asked if disciplinary action would be taken, they said: "We'll be taking up this matter with William."