The celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson explained today that he confused the names of two plants when he advised magazine readers to try sprinkling the poisonous weed henbane into salads.

Healthy & Organic Living magazine was forced to issue an urgent warning on its website that henbane was a very toxic plant and should never be eaten, after the interview with Mr Worrall Thompson appeared in its current issue, now on sale.

Mr Worrall Thompson, who is on holiday in Spain, admitted he made a mistake. “I was thinking of a wild plant with a similar name - fat hen, not henbane," he said.

He said he had never used henbane in recipes, and added: “A small handful of the young leaves of the herb fat hen is one I sometimes use.

“It’s a bit embarrassing but there have been no reports of any casualties. Please do pass on my apologies.”

Henbane - Hyoscyamus niger - has sticky serrated leaves, yellow, funnel-shaped flowers and a stale scent. Its name means killer of hens and it can cause hallucinations, drowsiness and disorientation in humans. Larger quantities can cause a loss of consciousness, seizures, trembling of the limbs and, in extreme cases, death.

The notorious murderer Dr Crippen is thought to have used seeds from the henbane plant to kill his wife Cora at their London home in 1910.

An early draft of John Keats's Ode on Melancholy began: "No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist / Henbane for its poisonous root," before the poet - who worked in a pharmacy and was familiar with poisons - decided to change the word Henbane for the more racily named Wolfbane plant.

Fat hen, by contrast, has edible leaves which can be used in salads or cooked like spinach.

Mr Worrall Thompson, who has insured his tongue for £500,000 to protect his tastebuds, mixed up the names of the plants when he was asked by the magazine if he ever used wild foods in his dishes.

Healthy and Organic Living magazine’s editor Kate Collyns has written to subscribers to warn them about the error and its website gives the advice: “As always, check with an expert when foraging or collecting wild plants.”

Ms Collyns said: “We have issued a correction on our website, sent a letter to our subscribers with our September issue and are printing a correction in our October issue highlighting the mistake, with an apology from Antony and ourselves for any confusion caused.

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