Chinese restaurant apologises for weighing customers during food wastage campaign

A restaurant in China has apologised after encouraging customers to weigh themselves before eating their food. Photo / Getty Images

A restaurant in China has apologised after encouraging customers to weigh themselves before eating their food.

The beef restaurant in the city of Changsha placed two large scales at its entrance, after they introduced a policy following a national campaign against food waste.

As customers entered, they asked them to enter their measurements in an app.

The app would then suggest menu items according to their measurements and weight.

Signs reading "be thrifty and diligent, promote empty plates" and "operation empty plate" were pinned up, according to the BBC.

The policy has caused uproar in China with many residents taking to social media to complain about the restaurant.

The restaurant has since apologised, saying they're "deeply sorry" for its interpretation of the "Clean Plate Campaign".

"Our original intentions were to advocate stopping waste and ordering food in a healthy way. We never forced customers to weigh themselves," it said in an apology posted online.

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the campaign this week, saying the country's level of food wastage is "shocking and distressing".