Chinese vloggers aren’t allowed to film mukbang videos anymore
Imagine living in a place where you can’t indulge in the food you’re craving for, or at the very least, watch someone do it. On April 29, a law in China was passed, and it bans restaurants from allowing their customers to order more than what they can eat. The law also prohibits people from sharing and filming videos that promote binge-eating or mukbang.
The law started from a nationwide anti-food campaign that gained attention after Chinese President Xi Jinping mentioned that foot waste was a “distressing” problem that posed a threat to their country’s food security.
According to Vice, China isn’t facing imminent food shortages. Xi launched a “food-saving campaign” last year to secure their country’s food supply due to the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19. There are around 35 million tons of food in China that go to waste annually.
Local authorities in China have set various measures to enforce the new legislation. Culinary groups now have “N-1” meals that indicate the number of dishes should be less than the number of customers. N-1 follows a system wherein a group of 10 people is allowed to order only 9 dishes as per BBC News.
The law allows restaurants to charge their customers an extra fee if they leave a huge amount of uneaten food. On the other hand, food operators could pay a fine of up to $1550 or P77,500 for deceiving customers for ordering excessive amounts of food and causing waste.
Other food establishments are guaranteed to offer small-portion servings. At the same time, a restaurant in Changsha city placed a weighing scale at the entrance to give food suggestions based on the customers’ weight.
Mukbang videos were a trend by South Korean YouTubers that eventually trickled down to other content creators. However, under the new law, TV networks and production houses in China will be fined up to $16,000, or P800,000, for telecasting and producing videos that show excessive food consumption. Censors even took down mukbang videos from Douyin, a popular short-video site in their country.
Professor Zheng Fengtian from Renmin University of China’s School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development said to the Global Times, ‘The legislation will guide enterprises, consumers and governments in the food industry chain in how to tackle severe waste problems in a legal manner, using either penalties or awards to regulate food waste.’
The post <b>Chinese vloggers aren’t allowed to film mukbang videos anymore</b> appeared first on WE THE PVBLIC.
Source: we the pvblic
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