Office cake culture is a big deal. You’ve maybe even made a cake for someone’s birthday within your office…or at least been offered a slice to enjoy in the festivities.
Did you ever stop to think about whether you SHOULD be offering up cake, though? Sure, it’s to help with a celebration, but you may actually be shoving it upon people who shouldn’t have cake…or may not even want to have a hearty slice.
Susan Jebb is the head of Britain’s food regulator. She has compared the office cake culture to passive smoking.
You see, with passive smoking, there’s nothing you can do about it. You simply endure the second-hand smoke that is happening around you.
Katie Mulligan baked a cake for her colleagues at an advertising agency in London. She didn’t consider whether it was acceptable if she brought in the cake – she just wanted to nail the beetroot cake recipe.
As Mulligan commented, “I just don’t think there’s a real equivalence there. With cakes, it’s up to you whether you eat it.”
Jebb argues that cakes in the office help to promote unhealthy food choices. She told The Times newspaper that she wouldn’t eat cakes if they weren’t brought into the office. But since people are bringing in the cakes, she’s eating them. She admits that people made the choice, similar to how people also choose to go into a smoky pub.
Keep in mind that Jebb was sharing her personal comments. These were not made on behalf of the Food Standards Agency. However, the FSA did recently share a report saying that 25.9% of adults in England were obese and another 37.9% were overweight.
And that’s where the office cake culture comes in.
The trend in the UK is increasing, so they believe it’s time to change the food culture – and fast.
It’s only a matter of time before the CDC or another agency within the federal government comes for the cake culture in the US, too. They’ll blame it on the obesity rates (which are higher than in the UK) as well as providing unnecessary peer pressure on co-workers.
Sorry, Karen. You’re going to have to leave your delicious red velvet at home.
