Controversial chef says his pet food ‘human grade’
HE’S known more for promoting controversial diets and being an online troll magnet — now “paleo” Pete Evans is rolling out a pet food with a twist. WATCH: WE TAKE THE TASTE-TEST
Confidential
Don't miss out on the headlines from Confidential. Followed categories will be added to My News.
IT’S the pet project celebrity chef Pete Evans reckons is good enough for human palates.
Despite carrying a warning of being “not for human consumption”, the divisive My Kitchen Rules judge said the ingredients in his new Healthy Everyday Pets food product are of such a high quality that it’s safe for us to eat — and he has sampled it himself.
“I’ve tried it, that’s for sure,” he said.
“There is nothing in there that doesn’t really appear on my own dinner plate. There is well-sourced meat and a vegetable component in there.
“The meat and vegetables are human grade.
“We don’t chew on bones as human beings but the freeze-dried liver and freeze-dried heart, I’ve tried them and I’ve shared them with my pets.”
However, Evans’s business partner, fitness trainer Michael Ryan, was quick to stress the food wasn’t intended for people palates.
OPINION: PALEO PETE MUST BE PULLED INTO LINE
“We are not promoting this for human consumption but we are trying to get the message across that the ingredients we are using, ... is of human grade quality,” he said.
“We are not promoting that you eat it but the quality of the food is that good that you could actually throw it on the barbecue.”
Evans advocates and markets a paleo diet program and has written several books on the subject.
However, he has courted controversy and attracted the ire of experts with claims that Wi-Fi could cause health problems, sunscreen is full of “poisonous chemicals” and osteoporosis sufferers should avoid dairy as the calcium in it could “remove the calcium from your bones”.
In 2015 his children’s paleo cookbook Bubba Yum Yum was dropped by its publishers after extensive criticism.
But the 44-year-old, who has a cat named Anais and a poodle named Shikoba, remains popular with the public, with more than 1.5 million Facebook followers.
His new products consist of both wet and dry food with the meat sourced from Haverick Meats, which supplied some of Sydney’s top eateries.
And Evans is convinced quality ingredients are key to good pet food.
“When you look in the marketplace at the moment, there is a lot of junk out there,” he said. “It is actually hurting our pets because they are suffering a lot of the conditions that modern day humans are.”
Pet Food Industry Association of Australia executive manager Duncan Hall wouldn’t comment directly on the new product.
“Owners need to have a look at their own pets and make their own decisions based on what is best to feed their animals,” he said.
Supermarket brand pet foods cost as little as $8.50 for 3kg — but HEP is not for the cash-strapped at $44.99.