A new survey revealed the crisp eating habits of office workers around the UK and handed Leeds the title of ‘King of the crunch’. As found by the LeedsOffices.co.uk, office workers in Leeds enjoyed munching their way through a staggering 125 million bags of crisps last year, meaning that each worker crunches through an average of 6 bags a week at work.
“We all love a bag of crisps now and again, but it seems some more than others,” said Jonathan Ratcliffe. “Perhaps slightly embarrassingly for Leeds, it seems we just can’t get enough of them.”
According to Ratcliffe, 10 grams of fat in every packet of crisps means that the average Leeds office worker puts away around 3.1 kilos of fat every year.
“Can you imagine eating seven pounds of fat?” he asked, “I’m not saying that we should all be immediately switching to quinoa and health food snacks, but the health implications are obvious.”
LeedsOffice.co.uk found that the top 5 crisp eating cities for office workers are: Leeds with 313 bags a year, Birmingham with 261 bags a year, Liverpool with 197 bags a year, Nottingham with 185 bags a year and Glasgow with 143 bags a year.
Another major problem, apart from the health implications, is the waste. “Nearly half a million crisp packets being chucked in office bins every day in Leeds is almost impossible to imagine, but the fact is that the huge majority of snack packaging can’t be recycled,” said Ratcliffe.
The packaging either goes to landfill or is burned, both outcomes being tremendously wasteful. “There are other ways of snacking that don’t cost the Earth,” said Ratcliffe. “You could try fresh fruit, for example, that’s delicious and good for you.”
However, Leeds Offices is convinced that no appeal to common sense and good health will shift Leeds workers away from tasty, tasty crisps. “We’re not the boss of you,” said Ratcliffe. “Eat whatever you like in your work lunch, this is one title that another city can’t take away from us.”
