Economic Daily: Increase penalties for minimum consumption in the catering industry.

In response to the problem of minimum consumption in the catering industry, many regions have taken action to curb it. Recently, cities such as Shenzhen, Tianjin, and Beijing have also announced regulations prohibiting the setting of minimum consumption clauses. One important reason for regulating minimum consumption in various regions is that setting minimum consumption in restaurants can easily lead to food waste. Currently, combating food waste has become a social consensus. For example, Guangzhou city plans to stipulate that businesses that set minimum consumption be ordered by the market supervision department to correct it within a certain period; those who refuse to correct it will be fined between 200 yuan and 1000 yuan. Compared to some places that only have prohibitive regulations without specific penalties, this is clearly more practical and progressive. In addition to clear penalties, the punishment criteria for businesses that set minimum consumption should also be appropriately increased, to encourage catering operators to operate in a standardized manner, protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and effectively curb food waste.