B&M stores criticised over ‘pro-anorexia’ weighing bathroom scales

Product features infamous quote 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels'

(baona/iStock)

Discount chain B&M Stores has been criticised for stocking bathroom scales bearing a “pro-anorexic” slogan.

One shopper posted a picture online of the scales, which have “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” written on them.

The quote was attributed to model Kate Moss in 2009, who was also accused of promoting an unhealthy lifestyle.

Rachael May Shevlin posted a picture of the scales on Facebook, urging other people to write to B&M Stores complaining about the product.

She wrote: “How lovely to see the phrase I said to my teenage/young adult self that also led to me calling myself a 'fat, disgusting, waste of oxygen', often before self-harming just because I had dinner.

“Would anyone else like to join me in writing to B&M?"

Her post has been liked more than 4,400 times and shared more than 2,000 times.

Other unhappy shoppers shared their thoughts on the scales, which many said sent out the wrong message to young and vulnerable people.

A B&M spokesperson said: “We have asked our supplier to withdraw this particular quotation from this range of novelty £3.99 weighing scales."

Kate Moss was first quoted as using the slogan, after an interviewer at WWD fashion magazine asked her if she had any mottos she lived by, following the release of her TopShop collection.

A spokesman for eating disorder charity Beat said: "Manufacturers and retailers should consider very carefully the messages they are conveying by producing and stocking such a product.

"Irresponsible marketing like this can contribute to and prolong an eating disorder which affects 725,000 men and women of all ages and backgrounds in the UK, costing the economy £15.8billion every year.

"Young people struggling with an eating disorder are fighting a tough enough battle as it is without thoughtless retailing such as this which can make it even harder.”

People worried about eating disorders can contact Beat on 034 5634 1414