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Echo Xie

A restaurant in central China has apologised for suggesting its customers weigh themselves before ordering their meals, just days after President Xi Jinping described the country’s food waste problem as “shocking and distressing”.
“Our intention was to advocate not wasting food and for people to order in a healthy way,” the Chuiyan Fried Beef outlet in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, said on Saturday on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform.
“We never forced customers to weigh themselves.”
Nevertheless, the company was “deeply sorry” for any upset caused, it said.

The incident began on Thursday, when staff at the restaurant, which is part of a chain, put two scales at the entrance along with a note suggesting how much food people should order based on their body weight.
The guide recommended that women under 40kg (90lbs) should order no more than two dishes – suggestions included sautéed beef and steamed fish head – while men weighing 70-80kg could have up to three.
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The restaurant’s Weibo post attracted a lot of interest and as of Sunday afternoon had been viewed more than 120 million times.
“There are many ways to promote [Xi’s] campaign,” said one user. “The restaurant didn’t need to use this eye-catching way to do so.”

Tan Yan, president of the Chuiyan Fried Beef chain, said that despite the upset, more than a thousand groups of customers had gone along with the idea.
“The activity was voluntary,” she said in an article published by The Beijing News on Saturday.
“Many female customers like to weigh themselves, and their body weight was sent to their phones, not shown on the scales, so it did not breach their privacy.”
The weigh-before-you-order campaign would continue, Tan said, but the company was looking at ways to improve it, such as “adding more information about the dishes’ nutritional and calorific values”.

Since Xi made his appeal to reduce food wastage, restaurants, online platforms and industry associations across the country have responded.
The Wuhan Catering Industry Association, for instance, urged restaurants in the city to implement an “N-1” system, which recommends customers order one dish fewer than the number of diners.
Similar schemes have been adopted in other parts of the country, while authorities in the northeastern province of Liaoning recommended an “N-2” policy for groups of customers.
“We should promote thrift and incorporate the prevention of food waste into the whole process of production, processing and service,” the Liaoning Catering Industry Association was quoted as saying in an article published by Liaoning Daily on Friday.



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China society

Chinese restaurant ‘sorry’ for suggesting customers weigh themselves before ordering

A woman checks her weight at the entrance to the Chuiyan Fried Beef restaurant in Changsha. Photo: Weibo

== PICTURE CAPTURED FROM WEIBIO == A beef restaurant in central China apologised on Saturday for encouraging dinners to weigh themselves and then order dishes, a move following Chinese President Xi Jinpingâs call to stop wasting food and promote thrifty.The restaurant published an apology statement on its official Weibo account on Saturday, saying it was deeply sorry for it failed to promote the initiative on curbing food waste.âOur original intention was to advocate stop wasting food and ordering food in a healthy way. We never forced customers to weigh themselves,â said the statement.Â On Thursday, the restaurant placed two scales at the entrance to encourage customers to weigh themselves and then order dishes recommended by the restaurant based on food calories. Photo: WEIBIO

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An abundance of food is regarded as a symbol of hospitality and social standing in China. Photo: Shutterstock

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Floods have devastated large parts of the country this year. Photo: AFP

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Some cities have recommended groups of restaurant diners order one dish fewer. Photo: Imaginechina

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Chinese President Xi Jinping has targeted “shocking” food waste. Photo: Xinhua

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China

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‘Our intention was to advocate not wasting food and for people to order in a healthy way,’ fried beef outlet says
Scheme was introduced after President Xi Jinping described China’s food waste problem ‘shocking and distressing’



‘Our intention was to advocate not wasting food and for people to order in a healthy way,’ fried beef outlet says.


China economy

Food and Drinks

Weibo