China to fine restaurants promoting overeating under anti-food waste campaign
24 December, 2020 | Ojasvi Chauhan
Xi said that he was shocked and alarmed by the amount of food wasted during a speech in August. He also said that wasting food is shameful while taking as much as needed is honourable.
Xi Jinping, as part of his war on waste, has submitted a law against businesses that advocate wasting of food. The law is to be ratified by Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and then publicly enacted.
Xi said that he was shocked and alarmed by the amount of food wasted during a speech in August. He also said that wasting food is shameful while taking as much as needed is honourable.
As per the law submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress by Xi Jinping, food businesses will be fined if they are found to be encouraging customers to order copious amounts of food, seemingly more than the customer is visibly able to eat. Authorities will charge any such offending business a fine of 10,000 yuan (₹1,12,000). Additionally, the law will also fine customers who waste a large amount of food.
The law also calls for the fining of any public broadcaster (television, radio, online advertisement provider etc.) which displays ads promoting excessive eating of food. If the warning issued by authorities is not taken to heed, then a fine of 1,00,000 yuan (₹11,20,00) will be levied and the business will be suspended until the issue is resolved.
The report by the China Academy Science read that around 17-18 million tons of food (sufficient to feed 30 to 50 million people) had been wasted in 2015 in urban areas alone. China’s ability to feed its citizens is dependant on foreign imports since natural phenomena such as flooding severely affect its agricultural industry.