The star of TV’s Hell’s Kitchen launches a campaign today urging people to look after their hearts by eating less salt.

White, the first British-born chef to be awarded three Michelin stars, says he suffered from high blood pressure during his twenties and was warned by doctors that his health was at risk.

Shunning the drugs he was offered he instead cut down on salt and the problem resolved itself.

He is targeting parents to teach their children to eat less salt.

“An individual’s palette is normally established during childhood and by the time we become an adult we have already acquired a strong taste for salt, which can result in us eating more than we need,” he said.

We know salt is a killer. People suffer strokes and heart attacks as a result of too much salt.

We can all take simple steps to reduce the level of salt in our diets such as avoiding processed, pre-packaged foods and using citrus fruit, herbs and spices instead of salt to enhance flavour.”