Professor Susan Jebb, Chairperson of the Food Standards Agency has suggested that bringing cake to the office is as bad as passive smoking.
Professor Jebb urged workers to think carefully about bringing unhealthy foods into workplaces as it may tempt others.
In an interview with The Times she said: “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.
“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.
“We still don’t feel like that about food.” she added
The FSA has since released a statement with Professor Jebb confirming that the views expressed were her own and do not reflect the FSA’s views or plans for their future policies.
Tackling obesity has been on the government’s radar for a while and since the government decided to make high in fat, sugar or salt products restricted they are much harder to locate in certain shops.
Professor Jebb is also an advocate for the plans set out by Boris Johnson in 2020 to introduce a watershed ban on advertising unhealthy food on television before 9pm.
Last month, the implementation of these plans was pushed back to 2025 by the health secretary, Steve Barclay.
