Gordon Ramsay offends vegans with a single tweet

While many meat-loving followers found the tweet funny and responded with words of support and encouragement, it didn't take long for vegans to hit back. Photo / Getty Images

He's known for his outspoken ways, but Hell's Kitchen star Gordon Ramsay is facing a fresh controversy after offending the world's vegans with one mocking tweet.

The furore began after a fan sent the celebrity chef a photo of their vegan lasagne on Twitter recently.

In typical Ramsay style, the father-of-four responded, posting: "I'm a member of PETA! People eating tasty animals ..."

I’m a member of PETA ! People eating tasty animals...... https://t.co/t9xCuVWDtq

— Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) February 2, 2018

While many meat-loving followers found the tweet funny and responded with words of support and encouragement, it didn't take long for vegans to hit back.

Twitter user Joysie-38days posted: "Alright. I love you but you hating on vegans is getting out of hand." MaisyMooCow wrote: "You're just a desperate individual intimidated by the rise of the #vegan movement. It's the future, you should embrace it."

Another, josephine, wrote: "Vegan is the future, more young people than ever before, it's healthier, good for the planet and even better for the animals."

The real PETA even weighed in, posting: "Oh, dear, Gordon. We've heard that old line before. While you're spending time mocking the future #vegan we're betting you one day become, most chefs are exploring healthy, animal- & environment-friendly #PlantBased dishes."

Naturally, there were many followers who took the opportunity to make their own digs at vegans in the thread, with Crafter Animations posting: "So many triggered vegans lol." And Twitter user Darxion added: "Absolute ripper of a response. I'm a member of this PETA too then!"

The tweet has been liked almost 150,000 times, attracting more than 1000 replies and more than 44,000 retweets.

Veganism is a growing trend worldwide and is especially common in the UK, with the BBC reporting the number of vegans had jumped from 150,000 in 2006 to 542,000 in 2016.

The spike has been helped by the popular "Veganuary" campaign, which encourages people who aren't vegans full-time to give up animal products during January.

Around 78,000 people took part in Veganuary in the UK last month.