Classic Express churnalism

'Death by fry-up'?

Oh:


The full English breakfast is 'lethal', is it?

Really? Because that sounds a little bit like hyperbole.

Especially as the Express has, in the past, called a full English breakfast 'treat of the week' and, as recently as January, essential food for mothers-to-be who want to have 'brighter' children. Ahem.

So it may not be the most healthy meal going, but in what way is it lethal?

Jo Willey explains:

The nation’s favourite breakfast could be slowly killing us, experts fear – but one in four British adults admits to eating it twice at weekends.

A study of 10,000 people reveals the perfect breakfast consists of a fried egg, two slices of fried bread, two pork sausages, two rashers of smoked bacon, fried mushrooms, one hash brown potato, baked beans and tomato ketchup.

It adds up to 1,190 calories and 95.7 grams (about 3½oz) of fat.

OK, so she doesn't explain how it's 'lethal'. Just a bit fattening. Surely people who eat them know that already?

And just when you're thinking this sounds a bit dodgy, the Express shows what's really going on here:

Over half the people questioned by the makers of weight management product LIPObind under-estimated by half the amount of fat in a fry-up.

Ahh.

It turns out that LIPObind is not just a weight management product, but specifically a 'fat binder'. A product that claims to help the body deal with fats just after they've been eaten.

Fats like a, err, full English breakfast, presumably.

(LIPObind has got into trouble with the ASA in the past for some of its claims)

So this article, with it's front page billing, doesn't show a fry-up is 'lethal' and is essentially an extended advert for this product.

Classic churnalism.

[UPDATE: Thanks to the comment from Alex below, it seems the links between LIPObind and the Express aren't new. Last April, the paper wrote another lengthy advert, and uploaded a four-and-a-half minute video on their website for the product.]