An appeal to the busybodies: let us eat cake
SIR – I could hardly believe my eyes on reading that Professor Susan Jebb, chairman of the Food Standards Agency, felt it necessary to tell us she believes that we should not eat cake in the office (Features, January 19).
Who empowers these busybodies to expand their otherwise sensible remit into areas that are none of their business? This is just the latest example of unnecessary and unwanted interference in our lives by unelected and unaccountable appointees.
Professor Jebb would do well to concentrate on fulfilling her job description and ensuring that cake is of the required high quality. Christopher Timbrell
Kington Langley, Wiltshire
SIR – Professor Susan Jebb’s comparison of cakes in the office with passive smoking (which is not accurate) shows how the nanny-state mentality has swamped current thinking. It’s time people stopped blaming everybody and everything else for their own inability to resist temptation. What happened to self-control and willpower?
RK Hodge
SIR – When I worked for the Ministry of Defence, I had a meeting with a visiting admiral who was offered a cake with his coffee. It was very funny watching him deal with a question while his mouth was full. Chris Yates
Peasedown St John, Somerset