It’s the office tradition that put one of the final nails in the coffin of Boris Johnson ’s premiership.
When he was allegedly “ambushed by a cake” at a birthday party at Number 10 in June 2020 he was found to have broken Covid lockdown restrictions, and was fined.
Oh how he must wish he had already heard the recommendation of UK food tsar Professor Susan Jebb who this week declared cakes and the tradition of bringing them to the office to celebrate birthdays should be scrapped.
As far as Prof Jebb is concerned, taking cakes into the office is as bad for us as passive smoking.
She doesn’t think it’s fair to test colleagues’ willpower with a giant Victoria sponge or chocolate gateaux, saying: “If nobody brought cakes into the office, I would not eat cakes.”
Now some, and many have, called her a killjoy and party pooper. But I for one think she’s on to something.
I have a massive sweet tooth and I find sugary treats almost impossible to resist. A packet of biscuits in my house is usually gone in 60 seconds – so much so that my children hide them as soon as the shopping gets home and only allow me a few crumbs when I’m having a cuppa.
Why should I have to fight the temptation of eating a colleague’s birthday cake when life would be a lot easier if they just didn’t bring it in the first place?
And it’s not just the occasional cake. I’m sure we’ve all worked in places where someone regularly replenishes the biscuit tin with sugary treats or brings chocolates from Duty Free when they come back from holiday.
It’s all well and good saying we should be able to control ourselves, but the fact is many of us can’t. Plus, if you turn down a slice of cake it’s seen as rude or people assume you have some sort of eating disorder. No one ever considers colleagues who may be watching their weight or trying to live healthier lifestyles.
I’m all for trying it. Though let’s wait until March when my next, ahem, birthday is out of the way.
