AFTER working for Jamie Oliver, nutritionist Mary Lynch is hoping to make pots of money with her own chocolate and avocado snack.

Miss Lynch, 25, studied nutrition at Oxford Brookes University and after graduating in 2011 ended up working in the celebrity chef's head office as a senior nutritionist.

She spent four years dishing out expert advice to the TV star and has now launched her own food company Onist, a healthy, sustainable food brand.

The first product on the market is The Healthy Avocado Choc Pot, containing the unusual combination of avocado, cashew nuts, dates, cocoa, water and natural orange extract.

When each pot is bought for £2.70, a charity in Gambia receives a 10p donation towards providing a child's breakfast.

Miss Lynch, who lives in Littlemore with partner Peter Slot, is already supplying the dark, gooey treat to Modern Baker in Summertown, and hopes upmarket Fortnum & Mason and Mr Oliver himself will show an interest.

She said: "Jamie was very inspiring to work for - he was sad to see me go but very supportive.

"I provided nutritional analysis for Jamie's recipes and worked with him on his Ministry of Food campaign (designed to help people suffering obesity and diet-related diseases).

"I worked with the food team on recipes to ensure healthy balanced meals, by adding more vegetables or whole grain to the dishes, although Jamie was very open about making some indulgent meals too."

Miss Lynch's mousse pots are gluten-free, and produced and packaged at Govindas Foods in Carmarthenshire in Wales. As they contain no preservatives they need to be refrigerated and have a short shelf life.

The nutritionist added: "I have just sold 500 pots and have produced another 500.

"As the pots are fully vegan and gluten-free they could make a good option for Jamie's restaurant.

"Jamie's team have tried one and he said if it's good he would be interested."

Miss Lynch, from Littlemore, said the link-up with a charity in Gambia was a desire to be "commercial and responsible".

She is working on a food policy masters degree at City University but has had to put some of her research on hold to focus on her new business.

Miss Lynch spent about four months perfecting the chocolate pot product and is hoping it will be on sale in some supermarket chains by the end of the year.

"Once the choc pot is well established I will consider developing other products - but I want to ensure this is a success first before I branch out," she added.

The business up until now has been entirely self-funded but Miss Lynch is hoping to win VOOM 2016, the Virgin Pitch to Rich competition, which has a top prize of £50,000 of investment funding.

For further information visit onistfood.com