‘Control freak’: Chinese mother who tried to ‘bully’ corner shop into not selling sugary snacks to children faces angry online backlash

A Chinese mother has been subjected to online backlash after she boasted about “threatening” the owners of a small grocery store for selling unhealthy, cheap snacks next to her child’s school.

The mother, from Beijing, said she visited the store “several times” to persuade the owners to only sell healthy snacks.

In a post on the Chinese social networking platform, Douban, on April 11, the woman proudly said that she took the action after going through her child’s school bag and discovering “a bagful of non-nutritious and unhealthy snacks”.

The woman, who uses the name @Getekuangbenliu, said she was shocked by the rows of sweet drinks and sugary snacks on sale at the shop.

In a bid to get the shop to change the type of items it sells, she showed its owners the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, published by the non-profit organisation China Nutrition Society, and a self-proclaimed “sugar limit order issued by four government ministries”.

The owners said all the products on display were legal and that they chose to sell cheaper brands because they were more profitable.

They told the mother: “If you think they are unhealthy, you can ask your kid not to buy them.”

The mother insisted that the store should “fulfil its social responsibility” and “revealed unintentionally” to the owners that a parent of her child’s classmate works at the city’s industrial and commercial bureau.

Eventually, the mother said, the owners failed to stock the snacks she wanted but she successfully got them to highlight “healthier snacks” on a shelf.

However, as her post went viral on Douban and other social media platforms, she was heavily criticised.

Many people called her a “control freak”, and told her she should teach her kid not to buy the snacks rather than forcing the shop owners against their will.

“I can’t believe such parents really exist, not teaching their kids to be responsible for themselves, but forcing others to pay for their kids’ own mistakes,” said one person.

“If your kid grows up into a teenager who smokes, drinks and goes to internet cafes, are you going to ask the world to fulfil their responsibilities?” asked another.

Some also challenged the mother to ask the large game vendors, such as Tencent, to stop selling games to kids, and not just bully small businessmen.

The woman, who insisted what she did was right, replied: “If my kid becomes addicted to games, I will hold them responsible.”