UK offices suffer from serial snackers

British workers in search of a snack look in the office fridge or food cupboards 13 times a day, according to new research, with some saying they do it simply because they’re bored.

A survey by appliance retailer AppliancesDirect.co.uk reveals the average employee opens the fridge eight times a day and search the cupboards five times. Women are more likely to raid the larder than men, with female workers going on the hunt 15 times a day, compared to 11 times for their male counterparts.

When asked why they open the fridge, only 22% of respondents say it’s because they’re hungry, while 35% believe it’s force of habit and they don’t actually intend to eat anything.

Lending creed to a call-out from dentists earlier this year to end the UK’s ‘cake culture’, healthy snacks are the least popular with fridge raiders. Cheese is the number one snack (35%), followed closely by cold meats (33%). Coming in third place is chocolate (29%), with fruit and vegetables coming in last (27% and 22%) respectively.

Mark Kelly, Marketing Manager at AppliancesDirect.co.uk comments: “The data revealed some interesting findings about the nation’s snacking practices, especially the number of times people look in the fridge and cupboards just out of habit while at work.

“Snacking or making a tea or coffee in the office is a way of taking a break from the working day, and so people will find themselves doing it regularly without the intention of actually getting something to eat or making a drink. The fact that so many companies now buy snacks for employees to eat means we are more likely to search for something to snack on during the day.”