The health and wellbeing of employees is a focus for many organisations, with programmes in place to ensure staff get enough exercise and information on nutrition. However, in some jobs, all the health programmes in the world will not help.
Angus Kennedy has been forced to quit his dream job as a chocolate taster after piling on the pounds and putting his health in danger.
Kennedy, former editor of trade journal Kennedy’s Confection, was dubbed Willy Wonka after landing a £30,000-a-year sweet-tasting role in 2010, in which he was asked by manufacturers to trial their products and then write about these in his publication.
However, after eating up to two pounds of sweets a day for two years, his weight has risen from 11-and-a-half stone to 13-and-a-half stone, and he has been told by doctors that his cholesterol levels are now becoming “dangerously high” and is at risk of having a heart attack.
He has now given up his role as chocolate taster and his position of editor on the journal to concentrate on losing weight and his writing career.
Read more articles on healthcare and wellbeing