Channel 4 has been branded ‘Beyond the Pale’ after showing Greg Wallace and Michel Roux Jr eating human flesh.
The controversial broadcaster has sparked fresh outrage with a satirical documentary about a factory that produces ‘engineered human meat’.
Billed as a solution for cash-strapped families, Masterchef host Greg Wallace interviews ‘donors’ who are selling their meat to the fictional farm ‘Good Harvest’.
The human tissue is then grown in labs into large slabs of meat – which can be used to make steaks, burgers and sausages.
But MPs slammed the show as in ‘bad taste’ due to the cost-of-living crisis and criticized Channel 4 bosses for failing to warn viewers that its content was not real.
Channel 4 has been branded ‘Beyond the Pale’ after showing Greg Wallace and Michel Roux Jr eating human flesh.
Billed as a solution for cash-strapped families, Masterchef host Greg Wallace interviews ‘donors’ who are selling their meat to the fictional farm ‘Good Harvest’. The human tissue can then be grown in labs into large slabs of meat – which can be used to make steaks, burgers and sausages.
Wallace, 58, was followed by onlookers as he visited Good Harvest’s headquarters where staff explained how scraps of flesh are harvested from humans and turned into edible meat.
The TV star was then seen meeting donors including a 67-year-old retired receptionist who agreed to take meat from her hips and thighs to pay for two weeks’ worth of energy bills.
Good Harvest’s chief executive later revealed that the firm’s premium range comes from the meat of children aged six and under – via a promotional video which considered the womb to be ‘nature’s oven’.
Wallace, who previously fronted BBC2’s ‘Inside the Factory’, is best known for presenting documentaries about how food and products are made.
‘Greg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat’ satirist Jonathan Swift’s 1729 essay A Modest Proposal – which proposes that poor Irish families donate their children to wealthy English landlords for food.
However, no warning was given before or during the broadcast to reassure viewers that it was fictional.
Confused and ‘disgusted’ viewers took to Twitter to criticize Channel 4 for airing a program in such ‘very poor taste’ as the show debuted.
‘Are you watching the British miracle meat on Channel 4…… it must be a joke? 1 human flesh,’ one tweeted.
‘Who’s watching Greg Wallace, British Miracle Meat, I feel sick.’ Another echoed.
One viewer added: ‘What new life are we being treated to @Channel4 now?’
Others – in an apparent joking manner – claimed that ‘if enough people voted Tory’ they would sell their flesh for money. And some point to Brexit as ‘a process banned in the EU’ to be allowed in the UK.
One wrote: ‘I hope they start disclaiming this satirical cannibalism before they finish eating the poor in the government’s next election manifesto.’
At one point in the show, Wallace and Roux Jr. are seen eating steaks, and the two Michelin-starred chefs lick Roux’s fingers as they cook.
The program also included thinly-veiled jibes at the government – a Good Harvest staff member commented that the machine used to grow the meat would have been banned under EU law.
Wallace also said the new food source could be seen as ‘the only attempt to take the crisis of British living seriously’.
Other viewers kicked out for branding the program a spoof documentary, with many complaining that the criticism of the government and Brexit was an obvious giveaway.
‘I began to see this idea as real, quickly becoming a hoax. Feel restrained by C4,’ one viewer wrote.
Another added: ‘This #miraclemeat program on @Channel4 is such a hoax it’s ridiculous. No sign of online business. Within minutes the Brexit comments were enough of a clue.’
‘A rather tasteless spoof which is rather ill-made. Supposedly it was a completely insane stunt by Channel 4 to make a strong case for government inaction, spiraling energy costs and sustainable food. I don’t think so,’ one viewer wrote.
‘Totally unusual spoof report. I don’t see what it’s trying to achieve,’ added another. ‘It will only upset the gullible and make it harder to convince people of non-meat alternatives.’
It’s not the first time Channel 4 has sparked outrage over its programmes.
In 2020 the broadcaster was widely criticized for producing a ‘deepfake’ version of the late Queen’s Christmas speech.
And earlier this year ‘Naked Education’ – a program where adults strip in front of teenagers to promote body positivity – garnered more than 1,200 Ofcom complaints.
Speaking ahead of the broadcast today, Lee Anderson, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, said: ‘Channel 4 has paled.
‘Britons struggling with the cost of living will no doubt find this attempt at humor in poor 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 people are aware it’s not real and can choose whether to watch it.
‘I’m certainly not in favor of censorship and I think it’s great that artists and comedians have the freedom to express themselves – but some sensitive broadcasters need to be aware.’ Wallace also mentioned food bank charity Trussell Trust as the program ended.
The program also included thinly-veiled jibes at the government – a Good Harvest staff member commented that the machine used to grow the meat would have been banned under EU law. Wallace also said the new food source could be ‘the only attempt to take the crisis of British living seriously’.
‘The Trussell Trust says a future without food banks requires a benefit system that works for everyone and a secure income so people can afford the essentials,’ he said.
‘So it’s no surprise that eating babies seems a possible path forward for our country.’
A spokeswoman for the charity said: ‘Although it is noted, the Trussell Trust had no involvement in the production of Greg Wallace: British Miracle Meat.’
A Channel 4 spokesman said: ‘This “caricature” is an amusing but thought-provoking commentary on the extreme measures many people are being forced to navigate during a cost-of-living crisis in our society.
‘Channel 4 has a long and rich history of satire and has often used humor as an accessible way to highlight the most important issues in society.’
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