A professional food streamer, Kang felt that his ban from the restaurant was nothing short of discriminatory against people with larger appetites.

A man in Changsha City, China recently made headlines after he was barred from an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant for his ability to eat enormous amounts of food. But how much is too much? According to the restaurant in question — Handadi Seafood BBQ Buffet — “all-you-can-eat” is not meant to be taken quite so literally, especially after having encountered a human bottomless pit.

The man whose known as Mr. Kang, became quite the unexpected celebrity after his very public restaurant ban that led him to be interviewed for local news outlets. As the story goes, Kang’s exceptional talent cost the owners quite a hefty amount after eating there a few times.

His first time at the restaurant, he apparently consumed 1.5 kilograms worth of pork trotters. He also finished just under 4 kilograms of prawns on his second visit. Although he swears he didn’t waste any food, the amount he ended up putting away alarmed the owner of the eatery so much that it prompted him to blacklist Kang.

“Every time he comes here, I lose a few hundred yuan,” the owner revealed about Kang. “Even when he drinks soy milk, he can drink 20 to 30 bottles.”

“When he eats the pig trotters, he consumes the whole tray of them,” he added. “And for prawns, usually people use tongs to pick them up, he uses a tray to take them all.”

A professional food streamer, Kang felt that his ban from the restaurant was nothing short of discriminatory against people with larger appetites. He also added that he’s never faced such an issue at other buffet restaurants.

“I can eat a lot – is that a problem?” he asked reporters. “I feel this restaurant can’t live up to its buffet name.”

The restaurant owner on the other hand, is considering banning all other food streamers from his establishment in a move to prevent any such incidents again.

WAS IT TOO HARSH A PENALTY?

As the story spread on Chinese social media, netizens shared their opinions on the situation. Some sympathized with the restaurant owner, saying he shouldn’t have to lose more than he made with customers like Kang. Others disagreed, saying that the buffet restaurant didn’t live up to its name and should not be known as an all-you-can-eat place if they cannot handle people eating all they can.

However, looking at the bigger picture, the restaurant owner was probably acting out of genuine concern, seeing as China is facing a severe food waste crisis that has gotten so bad, their government has started banning people from over-ordering at restaurants. Authorities have even outlawed popular mukbang (binge-eating) streaming videos online that have quite a large following around the world.

China’s food waste has been recorded to have surpassed 17 million tonnes per year, which according to official figures, is enough to feed between 30 and 50 million people.

On top of the country’s downsizing of their agricultural sector, unchecked food waste could see China facing a food shortage crisis of 130 million tonnes of food by 2025. If that happens, the ‘all-you-can-eat buffet’ may become a distant memory for everyone, not just Mr. Kang!