Pete Evans has been fined a total of $25,200 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) after he suggested that a AU$23,000 light machine could be used to treat Covid-19.

The celebrity chef received heavy criticism after he talked up the alleged health benefits of the BioCharger NG Subtle Energy Platform during a Facebook live video broadcast on April 9. During the video, Evans claimed the machine has several “recipes” designed to target the deadly virus and, according to the product description, it is “proven to restore strength, stamina, coordination and mental clarity”.

“We’ve had it for the last four or five months up at the farm, we use it pretty much everyday,” Pete, 47, said. “It’s a pretty amazing tool. It’s programmed with about 1,000 different recipes. There’s a couple of them for Wuhan coronavirus.”