Sandwiches, soup, crisps or even a quick biscuit snack ... desktop dining is something most of us have done. Either you’re too busy to take a break or want people to think you’re too important to step away.

The inevitable keyboard crumbs, audible crunching and often powerful odors are enough to wind up even the most easygoing of colleagues.

There are rarely official rules for what you can or cannot eat while sitting at your desk. Should firms get tougher on noisy al desko diners? And should we really be eating at our desks anyway?

Almost a quarter of us eat lunch at our desks, a survey by recruitment firm Glassdoor suggests. Certain foods are guaranteed to cause irritation.

“Egg sandwiches smell out the office, probably one of the nastiest anti-social foods in the Western hemisphere,” says Don Burgess, who works for a brewing company. Ajay, who works for a financial services firm, believes “no smelly food” should be “the golden rule.” Ideally, no one should be allowed to eat hot food at all at work, he says. Daniel, who works in technology, says his office often “reeks of Chinese food or fish,” and he believes all food should be eaten in the separate kitchen area provided.

“This not only enforces people pulling themselves away from their screen for a break but also means you don’t need to hear the person next to you chewing their food loudly while you are trying to concentrate,” he says.

Even snacking on fruit is too much for some people to bear. “If you have to eat, no noisy, crunchy apples,” says engineer Lucy.

Surely it would be easier for all of us if firms simply banned eating at our desks altogether?

Absolutely not, says David D’Souza, member director at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development. This would be “too draconian or too paternalistic,” he says.

Instead, he says firms should do as much as possible to encourage people to eat away from their desks. Managers should set an example by taking regular breaks and encouraging staff to do likewise, he says. But D’Souza also suggests an informal monitoring system, urging colleagues who we know work through lunch to take a breather.

Instinctively, most of us know that stepping away from work, even if it’s just for 10 minutes, makes us feel better. Research has also suggested that it can make us more effective at our jobs.

Workers who skip lunch are ultimately more stressed and less productive, an issue that could eventually lead to burnout, health journalist Christopher Wanjek found in his book about workplace eating habits.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【苛刻的】kēkè de draconian rigorous, unusually severe or cruel

【散发臭味】sànfā chòuwèi reek smell strongly and unpleasantly

三明治、汤、薯片抑或是饼干，大多数人都曾在办公桌前吃过东西。或者是因为太忙，或者是想让别人认为自己很重要，离了自己就不行。钻到键盘里的饼干屑、响亮清脆的咀嚼声，时常还伴有浓重的气味，足以让最随和的同事皱眉。对于办公桌前可以吃或不可以吃什么食物，很少有正式规定。公司是否应该对吵闹的办公桌食客采取更强硬的手段？我们到底是否应该在办公桌前吃东西？

求职网站Glassdoor的一项调查显示，近四分之一的人在办公桌前吃午饭。

有些食物肯定会引发摩擦。

在一家酿酒公司工作的唐恩·伯吉斯说：“鸡蛋三明治的味道会弥漫整个办公室，很可能是西半球最不招人待见的反社会食物之一。”

在一家金融服务公司工作的阿杰伊认为，“不吃有味道的东西”应该是办公室用餐的“金科玉律”。他说，理想的状态是，不允许任何人在工作场所吃热食。

在技术行业工作的丹尼尔说，他的办公室经常“散发着中餐或鱼的味道”，他认为所有食物都应该在公司提供的独立餐饮区吃。

他说：“这不仅可以迫使人们离开屏幕稍作休息，还意味着在你试图专心工作时，旁边不会有人大声咀嚼食物。”

即使是餐后吃水果也让一些人难以忍受。工程师露西说：“如果你一定要吃东西，不要吃发出脆响的苹果。”

如果公司干脆完全禁止在办公桌前吃东西是否大家都会更好过？当然不会，人力资源协会CIPD的会员主管戴维·德苏萨说道。他说，这样做会显得“太严苛或太专断”。

他说，公司应该尽可能地鼓励人们离开办公桌去用餐。他说，经理们应该以身作则，定期休息，并鼓励员工也这么做。不过德苏萨还建议设立非正式的监督体制，敦促那些在午饭时间工作的员工出去透透气。大多数人本能地知道放下工作去休息，即使只有十分钟，也能让自己感觉好起来。研究还指出，休息能让我们工作更高效。

健康版记者克里斯多夫·万杰克在他那本关于职场饮食习惯的书中写道，午餐时间不休息的员工压力更大，效率更低，最终会因过劳而感到精疲力尽。(Chinadaily.com.cn)