This takes the cake! Food tsar says sweet treats in the office more harmful than second-hand smoking

Professor Susan Jebb, the chair of the Food Standards Agency, likened eating sweet treats in the office to smoking around your colleagues.

She told The Times: "We all like to think we’re rational, intelligent, educated people who make informed choices the whole time, and we undervalue the impact of the environment.

"If nobody brought cakes into the office, I would not eat cakes in the day, but because people do bring cakes in, I eat them. Now, OK, I have made a choice, but people were making a choice to go into a smoky pub.

She added: "With smoking, after a very long time we have got to a place where we understand that individuals have to make some effort but that we can make their efforts more successful by having a supportive environment.”

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She concluded that passive smoking inflicts harm on others “and exactly the same is true of food”.

Nicola Ward, co-founder of CakeDrop told Reward Strategy: “We have hundreds of corporate customers that use treats as a way to recognise and reward employees. It’s not an everyday thing. It’s widely understood that treats are a gesture not a means of sustenance.”

An opinion piece in the Spectator this morning ridiculed her comments, writing: “I’ve made a few slippery slope arguments in my time … but even I never imagined that a workplace smoking ban would evolve into a workplace cupcake ban. Talk about the thin end of the wedge!”

However, LBC presenter James O’Brien asked his listeners to consider the health implications of eating sweet treats at work.

“Crucially for me, people would just be a lot happier”, he said, adding that Jebb might “have a point” as unhealthy food is linked to mental and public health.

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A spokesperson for the Prime Minister dismissed the comments saying it’s a "personal choice that should be baked into" the government’s approach to obesity.

Rishi Sunak said healthy eating is encouraged but “the way to deal with this issue is not to stop people from occasionally bringing in treats for their co-workers."

Sunak’s press secretary confirmed the PM is “very partial” to a piece of carrot cake in the office.