Boo! How that study about eating chocolate helping you lose weight was faked

“Slim by Chocolate!” the headlines blared. A team of German researchers had found that people on a low-carb diet lost weight 10 percent faster if they ate a chocolate bar every day. It made the front page of Bild, Europe’s largest daily newspaper, just beneath their update about the Germanwings crash. From there, it ricocheted around the internet and beyond, making news in more than 20 countries and half a dozen languages. It was discussed on television news shows. It appeared in glossy print….

… and it was all a well-executed hoax to expose the poor quality of science reporting. Read the full story in I Fooled Millions Into Thinking Chocolate Helps Weight Loss. Here’s How.