Who knew that chicken was as bad for your health as cigarettes? That’s what we learned yesterday from some slightly hysterical headlines.

Obviously, it’s rubbish. That becomes all too quickly apparent when you a) engage your brain and b) read just a few paragraphs down the page. What it does do is highlight how effective a misleading headline can be.

It’s hard to say who’s the most culpable for this one. It could be the comms professional who said: “I know, let’s say chicken kills.” Or it could be the news editors who took the bait. Whoever started it all, it went all over the world and the poor chickens have taken a severe reputational hit.

Still, the good news for smokers is that if they switch to chicken breasts they take ages to light and burn for hours, which should cut down their intake…

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