Restaurant Apologizes After Asking Customers To Weigh Themselves

A restaurant in China apologized after asking diners to step on a scale before they sat down to eat. Chuiyan Fried Beef, a popular Hunan chain in the city of Changsha, told customers they had weigh themselves and answer personal health questions and enter the information into an app that would recommend what they should eat. The restaurant said the policy was part of a nationwide effort to reduce food waste.

According to CNN, the app would recommend the chain's signature beef dish to a woman who weighed less than 88 pounds while suggesting a man weighing more than 175 pounds should order dishes such as braised pork belly.

The restaurant's policy drew outrage on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, with hashtags about the restaurant generating more than 300 million views. 

Chuiyan Fried Beef said they "deeply regretted" the controversy they generated by weighing customers.

"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 a statement.

The restaurant chain said they will keep the scales in place and welcomed customers to visit and weigh themselves.

"Netizens are welcome to come to the store to experience it and give their comments and suggestions," the restaurant added.

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