When someone eventually publishes the definitive list of Euromyths, the recent tabloid headlines and story claiming the EU intends to force Bombay Mix to be renamed Mumbai Mix should be somewhere near the top.

According to both the Sun and the Mirror, the reason for this was to avoid offending the people of India. So far, so ordinary, but what makes this myth stand out so much is its brazen disregard for even a smidgen of truth.

Many myths originate from either extreme exaggeration (health and safety legislation exists but it has never threatened the careers of busty barmaids wearing low cut tops) or a manipulation of the facts (excessively bent bananas have never been banned they are merely not sold as Class A produce).

But as revealed by David Rennie, the European correspondent of the Daily Telegraph (hardly a paper with a pro-Europe bias!), a short investigation found the Bombay Mix story to be a complete and utter fabrication. It was originally concocted by a news agency in the south of England, looking for business from the tabloids, and subsequently published by the Sun and the Mirror (and while the Yorkshire Post did not make such a gaffe by publishing the story as news, it did let itself down by publishing a letter on the issue which purported it to be fact). The press agency played the story down and for many it will be a minor issue, swiftly forgotten, but it provides an illuminating insight into just how easy a Euromyth is created, spread and believed.

There will no doubt be people quick to suggest that the reason people will readily believe these myths is the EU’s propensity for regulation but this is an argument that does not hold true. The obsession with excessive regulations many people link to Brussels is a consequence of the myths created by the media to ridicule the EU. When the EU legislates it is normally for a very good and very obvious reason, and only when this assessment is actually agreed by MEPs and by ministers from Member States in the EU Council. Hence there are stringent laws about food labeling so that, for instance, allergy sufferers can be confident about what they are eating.

Perhaps the most interesting issue which has arisen from the Bombay Mix myth is the standard of journalism the very existence of the story implies and which David Rennie’s account so well illustrates.

I thought press agencies based their reputation on providing copy the rest of the media can rely on, but it seems that the ability to spin a good yarn is more important, at least for this particular agency. And, did anyone at the Sun and the Mirror bother to check whether the story was real? Or worse still did they discover it to be rubbish but publish it regardless? Either way, it says very little about the quality of either newspaper. (Now there’s a surprise!)

Will either paper bother to print a correction? Judging by the Sun’s website, no. The story remains online! It is unfortunately indicative of the Eurosceptic agenda against the EU: avoid a sensible debate by obscuring the real issues with a series of increasingly preposterous things “Brussels” plans to do.