An innocent photo of Jamie Oliver carrying his baby has drawn an onslaught of criticism.

Celebrity chef and father of five Jamie Oliver has been forced to endure a tirade of abusive comments online after sharing a photo of himself cooking dinner with six-month-old son River in tow.

Sharing the black-and-white image to his Facebook page last week, Oliver wrote, “Gotta start them young!….. bless baby River he’s so fascinated by the cooking.”

The image shows Oliver holding River in one arm while he holds a pan in another.

Within hours of posting the image, however, the 41-year-old faced an onslaught backlash, with many believing the world-famous chef was putting his youngest child at risk.

"If that spits at the kid he will get burned," one Facebook user wrote, adding, "never ever take children that near a cooker."

Another agreed, commenting, "working with a child of that age so close to all that danger, when will this d**k ever grow up."

"So adorable. But PLEASE don't hold your baby near the stove," one user said, while another asked "Did he do a risk assessment before this !!!!!!!"

Other fans of the television star, though, applauded the image for its parenting realness.

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"I love that even celebrity chefs have to balance their babies on their hips to simply get a meal on the table," one mum said.

"What a beautiful photo. I always had my children in the kitchen with me whenever I was cooking," another shared.

"My fifth child was in a sling every meal I had to make for her first year of life. She's now 2 1/2 and loves to "help" with dinner," another wrote.

A number of parents from around the world then shared their own photos of cooking with their children, proving that babies and food can be a safe match made in heaven.

As to what Oliver makes of the fiasco, we're not quite sure, as he's yet to comment.

But if there's one person we'd be likely to trust in a kitchen, it's someone with over 20 years' professional cooking experience behind them.