Man shares post on Indian family packing food at no-takeaway buffet in Zurich. Debate follows

A post by an Indian man based in Zurich has set off a debate on social media after he claimed to have seen an Indian family collecting food from a hotel breakfast buffet despite a notice forbidding takeaways.

The user, identified as Sumit, shared the incident in a viral post, saying he witnessed the family fill empty containers with food items such as fruits, yoghurt and boiled eggs after finishing their meal. According to his account, the buffet area displayed a clear notice asking guests not to carry food out of the dining room.

“Everyone around looked surprised and shocked to see this. The family was travelling in Switzerland and must have paid a lot for the trip, yet behaved like this. No wonder Indians get a bad reputation abroad,” Sumit wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

His post, which quickly spread across the platform, drew mixed reactions. While some users criticised the behaviour as inappropriate, others said such actions were not exclusive to Indian travellers.

One user wrote that it was unfair how Indians were singled out: “We stayed in seven hotels over the last two weeks across England and Scotland. Italian and American tourists did the same at a few places — packed croissants, fruits and yoghurts. But when Indians do it, it becomes a headline.”