China’s online eating shows under scrutiny after state media criticism of food waste
- Eating shows originated from South Korea before gaining popularity globally via videos featuring broadcasters consuming a large quantity of food
- In a Weibo poll, more than 50 per cent of roughly 155,000 respondents said that while they enjoyed watching eating shows they would say ‘no’ to food waste
Popular Chinese video platforms are taking steps to regulate online eating shows after they were criticised by state media following an earlier call by China’s President Xi Jinping to end food waste.
Now if users search certain keywords such as “eating show” or “competitive eaters” on short video platforms Douyin and Kuaishou, a cautionary message pops up above the search results
“Please cherish food, and keep a reasonable diet,” Kuaishou’s notice reads. Douyin’s message asks people to say “no” to food waste.
02:30
Are China’s online eating shows under threat?
On Wednesday Chinese state broadcaster CCTV criticised online eating programmes that show participants consuming an excessive volume of food, and even spitting out the food after eating, describing them as “an extreme example of food waste”.
Eating shows, also known as mukbang, originated from South Korea before gaining popularity globally via videos featuring broadcasters consuming a large quantity of food.
The scrutiny comes amid a call by Xi on Tuesday to end the country’s “shocking and distressing” problem of food waste amid a challenging economic environment.
In response to the criticism, Chinese video platforms were quick to clean up the offending videos. “The platform will penalise food-wasting behaviour when spotted. We call on our users to treasure food,” a representative from Douyin said in a statement.