"Cake in the office is like passive smoking" - is there a thread on this yet?

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www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64315384

My initial instinct in response to this is WTAF, and to start making a big batch of brownies.

Having said that, I do think it's our culture making us (as a nation) fat, and that this isn't the responsibilities of individuals only.

But still - what is there to go to work for, if not the office cake?

Food Standards Agency chairwoman Prof Susan Jebb compared being around cake in the office to passive smoking.

She said: "If nobody brought cakes into the office, I would not eat cakes."

It's ridiculous. You have autonomy over your own body. Just don't put it in your mouth. Don't blame other people for your lack of willpower. I don't eat cake just because someone has brought it in.

It's nothing like passive smoking where you don't have a choice but top inhale the smoke (unless you lave the enclosed space).

It strikes me as a PR take on a relatively complex report and issue.

I'm a personal trainer by trade. There are innumerate reasons why people put on weight, stay an unhealthy weight, or fail to lose weight they want to lose. It's extremely complex.

'Cake in the office' is a neat headline but I don't think it comes close to telling even a fraction of the full story.

I agree it’s ridiculous. I am a cake fiend, but I hardly ever eat cake that is brought in to work. Slippery slope of control. Give it time and sweet treats will only be allowed to be sold from the top shelf

The more you refuse it the easier it gets. I'm intolerant to wheat so I very quickly learnt to say no once I discovered this. If you just say quite simply ' I don't eat cake in the office' you can train yourself to ignore it.

But yes it's silly, why tempt people who are trying hard to maintain a healthy diet all whilst thinking you're being nice.

I read it this morning 🤦‍♀️it’s not compulsory to eat cake. Just say no thanks. Comparing it to passive smoking is ridiculous.

She sounds like just another obsessive killjoy to me!

'Cake in the office' is just not a complete picture. Not everyone works in offices. Not everyone who puts on weight does it via the medium of cake. Loads of people who work in offices eat cake and don't put on weight.

It's a very narrow-focus article and it actually made me headbutt the desk when I read it this morning. Makes my job so much fucking harder.

But yes it's silly, why tempt people who are trying hard to maintain a healthy diet all whilst thinking you're being nice.

Why deny others something because one person wants to have a 'healthy diet'? If we're talking healthy and not restricted, cake can be part of a healthy diet, it's about balance. Deny yourself things makes it all the worse.

It's pretty worrying that the Chair of the Food Standards Agency, who is a professor, doesn't understand that there's a difference between a smoky pub and cakes in the workplace.

Legislation was implemented for public places so that people could go to those places without being harmed by passive smoking.

Your office could be piled high with cakes, but nobody else is putting that cake in your mouth.

Why is someone so capable of making such incredibly stupid statements in the position that she is?

It's a ridiculous comparison! It's a conscious choice to shovel cake into your mouth, not a choice to inhale second hand smoke without leaving the area someone is smoking in, or stopping breathing (not advised). People bringing cake into work to share with others, is kind and considerate, smoking around others isn't.

I sort of agree. No one's shoveling cake in your mouth so it's not an exact comparison, but there's a mild social pressure to join in and not be impolite by refusing something made by your colleague.

Surely, it's only like passive smoking if people in the office literally just shoved cake into your face without asking? Which, I mean, best day ever, but it's not the same

It’s a simplistic response to a real problem - our environment is obesogenic, and yes, a constant stream of cakes in the office contributes to this, in the same way a culture of boozy pub lunches (historically rife in some professions) isn’t healthy either.

She’s got a point.

I also think it's total catnip for the social media competitive food minimisers who will sit there and trumpet smugness because they don't eat #officecake, but it actually doesn't compassionately address a single genuine reason why excess weight is such a complex issue for people.

I read this and thought instant Mumsnet thread material!.

In places where I worked the common practice was to bring in cake and some nice fresh fruit (grapes, clementines etc) for those who didn’t want to eat cake but could still join in the celebration that way.

100% this!

You have no choice about breathing in smoke when waking past smokers.
Does she think eating in the street should be banned? Does she she someone walking down the street with A sausage roll and chomp a bit off the top because she couldn’t resist? Ridiculous.

Im a right fat fuck. I always refused office cakes in my old job mainly because I’m fully of anxiety and didn’t want people to be like “look at the fat fuck shovelling cake in” .. still fat though and my old office was horrendous for left over food and cake.

Read passed the headline.

We all make decisions based on our surroundings. It's not as simple as 'don't eat it'.

We know willpower isn't infallible

I don't take cake to the office for this reason any more. There is so much unhealthy food pressure and a lot of people who claim they are being 'nice' are verging on feeders IMO.

I get that it seems joyless, but also generally we are a nation struggling with increasing weight-related health issues.

I think the problem is that it normalises eating cake as an everyday activity. It is hard to resist when everyone else seems to be joining in, and a little voice tells you "well everyone's eating it so it won't do any harm". Which might be true if you eat a healthy balanced diet and it is just the odd bit of cake occasionally. But if you are struggling with your diet generally and eating far too much sugary food at other times it really isn't a good mindset to think it won't do any harm.

Ah! Blame the individual. Make it our fault whenever a grain of sugar enters our environment.

Don't even begin to say out loud "Supermarkets and manufacturers of foods need to be honest and transparent about the amount of sugar and fats they add to even the most basic of foods. "

.. and then fine them £100K every time they say any version of "This is what the customer wants"

Like individually wrapped peppers.
Like nasty chocolate
Like the same nasty chocolate with added sugary shit
Like vast rows of said sugary shit chocolate, ditto the crisp aisles withj20,000 variations of a heated carb with added salt and sugar!
Like huge portion sizes
Like cheese in everything

... and on and on and on

She has a point and i genuinely don't understand people getting so wound up by this.

Theres absolutely no need or reason to being cake or biscuits or sweets or chocolate into work and share it around. That doesn't stop you personally eating these things in your own time or in your own.

As society we are responsible for normalizing this constant binge and snack culture. People feeling rude for turning down home made or shop bought treats offered to them, people saying ah come on just the one its fine (even diabetics are told ah come on one wont hurt!)

I work from home and I miss 🎂🍰🧁.
I enjoyed the workplace feeders.

Why the author compares it to passive smoking, it's not the same thing at all unless you feel compelled to inhale cake

But enjoying a piece of cake is not bingeing and if you feel it is, then you have a very unhealthy way of looking at food.

I go back to autonomy. Just say no. It's not fucking hard, even if someone is trying to 'tempt' you.

Haha, yeah, I'd like a colleague or two who did this...