Heinz says product is aimed at Generation Z.

News that Heinz is launching spaghetti carbonara in a can has been met with horror in Italy, particularly in Rome where the classic pasta dish is most famously associated.

The canned pasta is hailed as a convenient and fail-proof meal that is "effortless to prepare" by Alessandra de Dreuille, Meals Director at Kraft Heinz, who describes it as a "the perfect solution for a quick and satisfying meal at home".

The product, set to go sale in UK supermarkets in September with a £2 price tag, contains "pasta in a creamy sauce with pancetta" and "no artificial colours".

However the new product - the first tinned pasta released by the US brand in more than a decade - has been slammed by Italian chefs and carbonara fans in Italy.

Speaking to The Times, Alessandro Pipero of the Michelin-starred Pipero restaurant in Rome, compared the tinned carbonara to “cat food”.

Italians on social media reacted with fury and disbelief to the news on Thursday, with many asking if it was a joke.

Other comments included "I wouldn't even give it to stray cats" or "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do".

In recent years the classic pasta dish has been the subject of numerous controversies in Italy where any deviation from the original recipe means it simply cannot be called carbonara.

In 2020 Romans reeled in horror at celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's "nightmare carbonara" while in 2021 The New York Times caused upset in Italy with its Smoky Tomato Carbonara.

Carbonara, which has five key ingredients - pasta, guanciale, pecorino, egg, pepper - is celebrated in Italy every year with Carbonara Day on 6 April.