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The land of junk food and celebs

Genevieve Roberts
Monday 28 March 2011 00:00 BST
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England is a nation of celebrity-obsessed junk food addicts, according to the latest Lonely Planet travel guide. It describes the British economy as "looking dicey" and said there may be "choppy waters ahead".

The guidebook, to be published this month and expected to sell more than 100,000 copies worldwide, claims: "More junk food and ready-made meals are consumed in the UK than in all the rest of the countries of Europe put together."

The guide's co-ordinating author, David Else, laments the rise of "hype over merit" in Britain's celebrity-obsessed society. He writes: "It's impossible to overlook the recent trend for scurrilous celebrity autobiographies – penned by everyone from footballers to reality TV also-rans. Whatever you make of the literary qualities of these memoirs, the British buy them by the bucketload."

Mr Else was unrepentant, saying: "The point of a guidebook is to be honest. We are not a tourist brochure."

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