Do Not Eat At Desk - © youngisthan.in

Survey: What Not To Eat At Your Desk

Though many folks regularly buy their lunch at company cafeterias or nearby restaurants, a significant number still brown-bag it to work. And even one lunch-from-homer can ruin the day for the rest. A new survey revealed what the worst- and best-smelling office lunch ingredients are…

Never Eat Lunch At Desk -© entrepreneur.comThere are many reasons you shouldn’t eat lunch at your desk – period…

We all know how discombobulating it can be when a co-worker – even several cubicles away – lifts the lid on a plastic freezer tub of something at their desk that doesn’t necessarily fit with our idea of ‘lunch’. The smell alone can drive you crazy, distract you and make you angry. And that means you’re not doing your work. In fact, a 2015 UK survey revealed that more than 70 percent of office workers felt their productivity was affected by how their workplace smells.

Ambius, self described as an ‘interior landscaping and scenting firm’,recently polled 1,000 office workers from  various businesses asking what they felt were the least- and most-offensive ‘al desko‘ luncheon foods…

Avoid these stinkers…

The following  were pegged as the most problematic-smelling foods, with the most offensive at the top of the list:

  1. Oily fish (like mackerel or sardines) – 47%
  2. Smelly cheese – 45%
  3. Boiled eggs – 42%
  4. Egg sandwich – 39%
  5. Garlicky foods – 38%
  6. Curry – 37%
  7. Raw onions – 36%
  8. Crustaceans (like prawns o/ shrimps) – 32%
  9. Fast food – 28%
  10. Tuna sandwich — 27%

Smell the roses…

These ten foods were ranked as the lest-offensive in the office lunching environment, with the least offensive at the top of the list:

  1. Buttered toast – 47%
  2. French pastries – 45%
  3. Bacon sandwich – 42%
  4. Chicken soup – 37%
  5. Tomato soup – 37%
  6. Sausage roll – 37%
  7. Banana* – 36%
  8. Pizza – 35%
  9. Fish and chips – 31%
  10. Spaghetti Bolognese – 30%

The overall findings…

And, no: Sardines on Toast do not cancel each other out. That’s still a bad idea.

If the survey had included beverages, freshly brewed Coffee would have been at or near the top of the ‘good’ list, poll subjects allowed. Forty-five percent of those polled confessed that they had suffered though bad food smells in silence. Thirty-five percent admitted that in addition to upsetting food odours, they also found the noise of their office mates eating to be disturbing.

Tellingly, 61 percent of office workers asked say they dine ‘al desko‘ at least three times a week. That’s a shame, because most office productivity and happiness experts say eating your lunch at your desk is a bad idea for a whole list of reasons, no matter what you eat…

~ Maggie J.