China launches 'Clean Plate' campaign against food waste

Beijing: China has launched a campaign titled "Clean Plate", in an effort to reduce food waste after President Xi Jinping called the amount "shocking and distressing", the media reported on Thursday.

Following Xi's message that China had to "maintain a sense of crisis about food security", the Wuhan Catering Industry Association urged restaurants in the city to limit the number of dishes served to diners - implementing a system where groups must order one dish less than the number of diners, the BBC reported.

So under this system dubbed "N-1", a group of 10 people can only order nine dishes.

Chinese state agency CCTV also called out live streamers who typically film themselves eating large amounts of food.

Known commonly as "Mukbang" - such live streams are popular in many parts of Asia including China.

According to CCTV, some of these live streamers throw up afterwards as they are unable to digest the large amounts of food eaten.

This is not the first time China has launched an anti-food waste campaign, said the BBC report.

In 2013, the "Operation Empty Plate" campaign was launched that targeted extravagant feasts and reception held by officials, rather than putting the onus on the public.

According to official reports, around 17 to 18 million tonnes of food went to waste in China in 2015.