Jamie in clear over slaughter

TV chefs Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver have escaped censure by watchdogs for slaughtering animals on their shows

Viewers were left distressed when Oliver slit a lamb's throat on his series Jamie's Great Escape.

An episode of Ramsay's programme The F Word provoked a similar response when it featured a slaughterman killing six turkeys the chef had reared in his garden.

Both chefs said they wanted to illustrate where the food on our table comes from.

Between them they attracted 57 complaints to media regulator Ofcom.

But today Ofcom ruled both Channel 4 shows had treated the issue in a "responsible" way and had not breached TV guidelines.

The offending episode of Jamie's Great Escape was shown on November 9 and began half an hour before the watershed.

Oliver visited an Italian hill farmer who invited him to select a lamb and slaughter it for a family feast.

Ofcom said in its report: "It was clear from the programme that the presenter found it emotionally difficult to carry out his task but the lamb did not struggle or make any distressing noises. There was almost no blood shown and, arguably, it was hard to see what was happening at all."

The report went on: "We consider that the programme treated the matter responsibly and informatively. There were no graphic distressing scenes and the programme sought to reflect a tradition that has been going on throughout the world, and in that particular part of Italy, for thousands of years."

Ramsay's turkey slaughter was broadcast on December 15.

The chef had reared six turkeys in preparation for Christmas and named them after fellow cooks - Delia, Ainsley, Gary, Anthony, Jamie and Nigella.

Ramsay reared them in his garden with the help of his young children.

He did not kill the birds himself but invited a slaughterman into his garden to kill them with stun guns.

"In our view, the issue as a whole was treated in a responsible and professional way," Ofcom said.

"While the procedure itself was shown in full, there were no unduly distressing scenes. We do not consider that the images were sufficiently distressing for them to have gone beyond generally accepted standards in this particular programme, on this channel, at this time."

Sharon Osbourne was cleared of causing offence by calling fellow X Factor judge Louis Walsh a member of the "Irish Mafia" for choosing Irish band the Conway Sisters over Maria Lawson.

Twenty-six viewers complained when she said of his decision: "It's a travesty. It's about where they are from and not about talent. It's like the Irish Mafia."

Many of the complainants said Osbourne's comment was racist.
But Ofcom ruled: "We do not believe that the remark was a deliberate attempt to denigrate Irish people."