Paleo Pete dropped from salad chain deal

Celebrity chef Pete Evans at Kauri Cliffs resort near Kerikeri. Photo / Grant Triplow, Herald on Sunday

Celebrity chef Pete Evans has lost yet another profitable deal after being dropped as a celebrity ambassador by the national salad chain, Sumo Salad.

The food chain are strongly denying that this move is related to Evans' recent paleo controversies, and maintains that the decision to not renew his two-year contract was made a long time ago.

Sumo Salad's Head of Marketing, Petra Orrenius told news.com.au Evans' two-year contract expired this month.

"We had a really good collaboration and we made the decision a really long time ago that we wouldn't renew the contract, because he's been with us for so long."

The move comes just weeks after Evans' publisher Pan Macmillan said they would no longer publish his baby paleo cookbook, Bubba Yum Yum: For new mums, babies and toddlers, after health experts raised concerns it could harm children.

Evans and his co-authors, blogger Charlotte Carr and naturopath Helen Padarin, will self-publish a digital version of the book.

The My Kitchen Rules star is also reportedly "on thin ice" with Channel Seven executives and could be at risk of losing his job after a series of controversies. Evans is a vocal opponent of the fluoridation of drinking water.

Ms Orrenius denied the decision to drop Evans was influenced by these events.

"I think often when you're trying to make a difference you have to be a bit radical and stand out. We've always been very supportive of Pete and we're happy with that," she said.

One of the co-authors of Bubba Yum Yum, Charlotte Carr, came under fire this week for her work as a freelance voiceover artist in advertisements for Cadbury, Coca Cola and KFC.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Carr said she doesn't necessarily endorse the products she spruiks.

"I am a working mother and like everyone else, will do everything I can to keep my family safe and nurtured,' Ms Carr said.

"If I'm telling you through advertising on television or radio to buy a certain car, or catch a certain airline, or use a certain toothbrush, I may not drive that certain car, or use that airline or use that toothbrush."

- Daily Telegraph Australia