Let them eat cake? Not likely
June 8th 2006

While health and safety is often unfairly portrayed as a legislatory killjoy, a recent story reported in The Sun literally takes the biscuit.

Pensioner Elaine Richards baked a cake for a friends 96th birthday celebrations at the local Age Concern day centre. However, before her friend could blow out the candles, the centre manager decreed that the cake broke hygiene regulations: only shop-bought cakes were allowed to be consumed in the centre.

Explaining that the elderly visitors to the centre were frail and that some were diabetic, the centre manager, Andrea Scott warned: “If we let one person do this the floodgates are open. If something went wrong, we could be sued.”

Luckily, Elaine and here friend had their cake and ate it – at home. No ill effects were reported.

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