The incident at Fifteen Cornwall - which usually buys only organic eggs - came to light after a party of farmers and battery egg producers asked to see what they were eating during a visit to the restaurant last Friday.

They realised they had been served eggs from battery hens after a chef brought them a tray to inspect from the kitchen.

Oliver, who is one of the most high-profile figures in the campaign to wean Britain off its taste for cheap, battery-reared chickens and eggs, was said to be "clearly pissed off" by the news. To compound the embarrassment, the mix-up occurred while Jamie's Fowl Dinners - Oliver's impassioned plea for the country to rethink its attitude to poultry - was aired on Channel 4.

Source: GuardianUnlimited