Piers Morgan almost vomits after tasting Greggs' vegan sausage roll on Good Morning Britain

Apparently the new Greggs item is 'gastonomic appropriation'

Piers Morgan has got people riled up yet again – this time by expressing his disgust for the most hotly debated baked good of 2019 so far: Greggs’ vegan sausage roll.

The Good Morning Britain presenter was offered one of the offending rolls during the programme. “It stinks!” he proclaimed before tasting it. He then took a bite with a pained look on his face, and proceeded to imply he was going to throw up into a bucket conveniently placed beneath his desk.

His co-host Susanna Reid, who had tried one of the vegan rolls the previous day, said it was “delicious”, and added: “Why are you so threatened by vegans using the word ‘sausage’?”

Morgan did not address the question, but instead pointed at a cart full of raw meat (the “vegan resistance”), saying: “It’s good for you – how do you think humans got here?”

Greggs didn’t seem too worried about Morgan’s lack of endorsement, tweeting not long after it was broadcast: “Oh hello Piers, we’ve been expecting you.”

Morgan decided to give the product a try after mocking the launch announcement last week. He quoted Greggs’s tweet, which claimed “the wait is over”, and said: “Nobody was waiting for a vegan bloody sausage, you PC-ravaged clowns.”

Greggs may have been referring to a petition for the menu item, which was launched by the international animal rights group Peta and garnered more than 20,000 signatures.

During a diatribe against the product before tasting it, Morgan said that it was “gastronomic appropriation,” because there can be no such thing as a meatless sausage.

“They are using a meat-based product to sell their vegan gruel,” he said.

Critics of the outspoken presenter were quick to point out the irony of his melodramatic reaction given his penchant for criticising the “easily-offended snowflakes”.

Others have been more cynical, and questioned whether the televised spat between Morgan and Greggs may have in fact been a clever publicity move, given the two share a PR agency. Neil Knowles, digital brand manager at Greggs, has denied this.

This is not the first time he has been critical of veganism – he is often seen on Twitter gibing with restaurants such as Pizza Hut, TGI Friday’s and McDonalds, which have been on the receiving end of Morgan’s disdain after announcing they are including vegan items on their menu.

Last month, Morgan used his platform to criticise animal rights campaigners who were protesting at the meat aisle in a Brighton Waitrose.

Morgan began presenting Good Morning Britain in 2015, alongside Reid who had joined ITV from the BBC the previous year.