Healthy & Organic Living, a UK magazine with a circulation of 40,000 and described as, “the only magazine dedicated to providing information and advice for modern women who want to discover how to lead a healthy and organic lifestyle,” has instead published some ancient advice on how to barf.

Antony Worrall Thompson, a UK celebrity chef whom Gordon Ramsey once called a Teletubby  and has made barfblog for using paving stones as a kitchen counter at a public BBQ, told the August issue of Healthy and Organic Living that henbane is great in salads.

In Hamlet, Claudius uses a potion containing the drug to kill the king.

Yesterday Mr Worrall Thompson, and Healthy & Organic Living, who published his culinary wisdom, issued an apology, reminding readers that henbane “is a very toxic plant and should never be eaten”.

Andrew Chevalier, a fellow of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, said,

“It’s a close relative of deadly nightshade and is a very well recognized poisonous plant. Like most poisons it has medicinal properties. It can be used to treat patients with pain affecting the urinary tubules, such as kidney stones, and for certain gut problems. It acts as a sedative, with analgesic properties.”

Those who had followed Mr Worrall Thompson’s lead and constructed a salad of henbane should seek medical help, Mr Chevalier said. “A good portion would probably cause significant gastrointestinal diffculties and a larger dose would be fatal. If anyone has followed Mr Worrall Thompson’s advice they should dial 999 and prepare to have their stomach pumped.”