Recently, as midnight struck, a livestreamer with over a million followers kicked off her live broadcast — just as promised. Sitting coolly in front of the camera, over the course of the two-hour livestream she proceeded to gorge on more than 20 types of food, from mangoes and lychees to crayfish, salted duck eggs, and snail noodles.

“Now watch me make this salmon disappear,” she told her viewers, barely finishing her sentence before thick slices of salmon, large prawns, and other delectable seafood began finding their way into her stomach.
　　
By the end of the stream — her sixth consecutive binge eating broadcast in as many days — she was estimated to have eaten 20 kilograms of food.

Dubbed dawei wang, or “big-stomach king” livestreams, central and local Chinese authorities have launched numerous campaigns since 2020 to crack down on what they see as unhealthy excess and food waste. To date, over 13,600 related social media accounts have been banned, according to a report on the phenomenon released by Legal Daily on Tuesday.

China’s 2021 Anti-Food Waste Law and last year’s Action Plan for Food Conservation and Anti-Food Waste explicitly prohibit the creation, dissemination, or promotion of binge eating content in the country, as well as behaviors that lead to unnecessary food waste. Yet, despite these measures, “big-stomach king” livestreams remain rife on short video platforms such as Kuaishou and Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.

Many streamers leverage binge eating as their selling point. Some often remain silent throughout broadcasts, using pre-prepared subtitles to describe the food before devouring their spread. Others use provocative language to interact with viewers, attracting massive online audiences who engage through comments and likes. As night falls, these hosts transform into livestreaming salespeople, with some continuously eating their promoted products for one to two hours.

Some streamers go to great lengths to validate their eating prowess, bringing scales to restaurants to demonstrate weight fluctuations to their viewers before and after their feasts.
　
Speaking to Legal Daily, Doctor Zhong Jiawei from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University emphasized that the average person cannot consume such copious amounts of food in one sitting.

“It’s impossible to eat that much regularly without vomiting or faking it,” Zhong said. “People who binge frequently but don’t gain weight are almost certainly purging.”

Instances of streamers faking their consumption or inducing vomiting have raised concerns about individuals who may try to imitate them.

Earlier this year, a well-known binge streamer in Hangzhou, China’s eastern Zhejiang province, faced a harrowing ordeal after attempting to induce vomiting with a toothbrush following an eating spree. However, after inadvertently swallowing the toothbrush, she required emergency gastroscopy surgery to retrieve it.

Zhong added that prolonged binge eating can lead to severe health complications, including gastric rupture, and significant spikes in blood sugar and lipids, heightening the likelihood of gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases.

He also cautioned against the long-term repercussions of frequent vomiting, which can result in dental erosion, gum recession, and damage to the esophagus and throat, potentially leading to inflammation and life-threatening conditions. Even after cessation, individuals remain susceptible to digestive ulcers and indigestion.

In recent years, livestream commerce has emerged as a significant industry alongside the rapid growth of short-video apps, with eating content becoming a major vertical sector.

Such content, initially entertainment-focused, first gained prominence in South Korea. Known as mukbang — a portmanteau of the Korean for “eat” and “broadcast” — the trend evolved to encompass everything from food reviews and online companionship during meals, to more problematic binge eating sessions, mainly as a way to attract audiences and sell related goods.

According to the Legal Daily’s investigation, short video platforms restrict “big-stomach king” content, including binge eating streams and extravagant food waste, as well as using such behaviors to attract viewers.

However, some streamers attempt to circumvent scrutiny by adding disclaimers to their videos, such as “Eat responsibly to avoid waste; the food shown is not intended for individual consumption,” or “Fictional performance for entertainment purposes only.”

Shi Zhiguang, a lawyer from Beijing-based Yinghe Law Firm, highlighted the regulatory blind spots concerning binge eating streams on livestream platforms. Because supervision relies heavily on keyword filtering and manual oversight, livestreams that occur at night — when there are fewer active moderators — and use textual disclaimers to evade detection screening present challenges.

Shi also emphasized the issues posed by streamers who intertwine binge eating with product promotion, blurring the line between the two and further complicating oversight efforts.

Editor: Tom Arnstein.

(Header image: VCG)