A bizarre challenge of eating more than 100 dumplings in exchange for a free meal was given by a restaurant in China. However, the challenge landed the restaurant in trouble as authorities began investigating if they violated the country’s anti-food waste law.
Local authorities swooped on the restaurant in Yibin City in the southwestern province of Sichuan after hearing about its “king of big stomach challenge,” reported the state-affiliated news outlet The Cover this week.
As per reports, the challenge involved patrons competing with each other to eat 108 chaoshous or spicy wonton dumplings, and the one emerging as the winner after eating all of them in the least time duration was to be awarded a free meal and additional prizes.
The restaurant, to attract the interest of consumers, had advertised the offer on social media, however, things didn’t turn out the way they expected after an investigation was started by the State Administration for Market Regulation on whether they had breached the law surrounding food waste.
Several restaurants being investigated for competitions
The Cover stated that the restaurant is among several of them which are being investigated by the authorities over similar competitions.
In the past, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called food waste “shocking and distressing” and in March this year, he had stated that the agricultural supplies were similar to the foundation of national security.
In 2021, the law against wastage of food was enacted, after the government had criticised the online bloggers who had live-streamed themselves binge eating to attract viewers. Subsequently, many of their accounts on the social media platforms were suspended.
As per the law, restaurant owners can face a fine of up to 10,000 yuan ($1,400) if their establishments “induce or mislead customers to order excessively to cause obvious waste.”
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Television and radio stations and online video and audio providers face a maximum fine of 10 times the amount which has been found to be used in “making, publishing, promoting programs or audio messages about eating excessively and binge eating and drinking.”
The restaurant in Yibin “demonstrates behaviours of binge eating and drinking and inducing customers to order excessively,” said the Cover, citing the local market regulator.
However, the authorities were criticised by some Chinese internet users for overreaching.
“Is this counted as a waste? Why not let people compete for the biggest eater? Will the food not consumed there actually go to the poor?” one user wrote on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
“You didn’t regulate food safety … but this?” another user said.
