Let them eat cake! 3/4 of Brits say it IS acceptable to bring treats into office trends now

Cakes are frequently rolled out for birthdays, leaving-dos and parties in offices across the UK. 

But sharing the celebratory sweet treat among colleagues was today compared to a practice as dangerous as smoking by the Government's food tsar.

It prompted fury on social media, led to a poll which revealed three-quarters of Brits support cakes at work and met pushback from Rishi Sunak, who revealed carrot and red velvet were his favourite options.

But after MailOnline analysis showed that a slice can contain more than 450 calories and 60g of sugar, experts warned that it should not be a daily treat. 

However, they hit back at the parallels drawn to smoking, which is toxic, while cake 'is simply a type of food'.

Professor Susan Jebb, of the Food Standards Agency, said that compared brining a cake to work a with exposing others to secondhand smoke.

She told The Times: 'If nobody brought in cakes into the office, I would not eat cakes in the day.

'But because people do bring cakes in, I eat them. Now, okay, I have made a choice. But people were making a choice to go into a smoky pub.'

Professor Jebb noted that two situations were not identical but warned smoking caused harm to others 'and exactly the same is true of food'.

But 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. 

'But we still don't feel like that about food.'

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pushed back against the comments.

Asked what he made of the suggestion that office cake and smoking were comparable, the PM's official spokesperson said: 'No. The Prime Minister believes that personal choice should be baked into our approach.

'We want to encourage healthy lifestyles and are taking action to tackle obesity, which has cost the NHS £6billion annually.

'However, the way to deal with this issue is not to stop people from occasionally bringing in treats for their co-workers.'

Mr Sunak's press secretary added that he is 'very partial to a piece of cake' and most enjoys carrot and red velvet cake.

Professor Jebb's comments also sparked social media backlash with Brits, who said comparing cake at work with exposure to cigarette smoke as 'joyless'.

'Unless you take cake to work and smash into the faces of your colleagues, I fail to see how it could be like passive smoking,' another Twitter user said. 

Others accused her of being 'bitter that no one brough cake into the office' for her birthday.

The majority of the public also disapprove of Professor Jebb's stance. 

A poll by YouGov, which asked more than 5,000 Brits what they think about brining unhealthy foods to the office, revealed that 77 per cent think it is either 'completely' or 'somewhat' acceptable. 

One in 10 (nine per cent) said it is 'somewhat unacceptable', while four per cent said it is 'completely unacceptable'. A tenth (11 per cent) said they didn't know. 

However, MailOnline findings shows just how bad cakes can be for the waistline.

Analysis of 160 cakes available on the high street shows that, per 100g, the treats can contain nearly 500 calories and 15 teaspoons of sugar.

The most calorific option was Sainsbury's Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip Madeira Cake, which is a sponge cake decorated with cookie crumb frosting.

It has 463 calories per 100g and 43.4g of sugar — around as much as two Mars bars (228 calories) or nine McVitie's Chocolate Digestives (4.8g sugar), respectively.

Tesco's Finest Trillionaire Cake — caramel and brownie cake covered in chocolate ganache — was also among the worst offenders.

It has 462 calories, as much as two-and-a-half Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnuts and 44.9g of sugar, which is equivalent to two chocolate muffins. 

A Cookies and Cream Celebration Cake at Asda, made with chocolate and madeira sponges and cookie-flavoured icing, has 460 calories per 100g and 48g of sugar.

For context, an average man is supposed to consume around 2,500 calories per day to maintain weight, while a woman needs around 2,000. 

And adults should eat no more than 30g of free sugars daily, which are those added to food and drink, as opposed to those found naturally in milk, fruit and vegetables.

The most calorific option at Waitrose is the Coffee and Caramel Cake — coffee sponge with salted caramel buttercream — which has 459 calories and 35.5g of sugar per 100g. 

This is around as many calories as a large McDonald's Chocolate Milkshake (468) and more sugar than a can of Coca Cola (35g).

At M&S, the least healthy cake is its famous Colin The Caterpillar Cake — a chocolate sponge roll filled with chocolate buttercream — which has 452 calories and 46.3g of sugar per 100g slice.

Available at Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco, the Maltesers Party Cake is also one of the least healthy options — with 452 calories and 33g of sugar per 100.

This more than two Kit Kat Chunky bars (203 calories) and nearly as much sugar as a Twix Xtra bar.

However, many of the supermarkets recommend that a slice is between 50 and 75g counts as one serving, rather than 100g.

And experts insist that the occasional sweet treat is fine as part of a balanced diet. 

Professor Gunter Kuhnle, an expert in nutrition at the University of Reading, told MailOnline that 'even the NHS Eatwell guide includes treats such as cake'.

'A balanced diet can include many things, and cakes can definitely be part of that,' he said.

Professor Kuhnle said the FSA chair's comparison of smoking and cakes at work is 'not very helpful'.

He noted: 'Second hand smoke is clearly toxic whereas cake is simply a type of food.

'It also ignores the fact that food is not just there to provide energy but has an important social role.  

'Cakes in the office maintain relationships and can have an important role there.'  

Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian and researcher at Aston Medical School in Birmingham, told MailOnline that cakes are often brought to work to bring people together — 'something that we have

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