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Original poster

People stealing and half eating food in supermarkets

14 replies

404ErrorCode · 14/12/2024 19:05

Is this even more of a thing now, or have I just been unlucky?

Twice in the past few months I have been shopping, got home and found food I have bought has been discreetly half eaten and put back on the shelf in the supermarket ready for some unsuspecting person to come along and buy it.

The first time was a chocolate bar, where a whole row had been eaten (nice teeth shape in it 🤢), and tonight we opened a tin of biscuits and half were missing!

Will be extra vigilant when buying from now.

I just wondered if others had also noticed an increase in this?

OP posts:
Littletreefrog · 14/12/2024 19:08

I don't understand how someone had eaten some chocolate and resealed the packet. The tin of biscuits slightly more understandable but.did you not check the seal?

I think you have been unlucky as I do quickly check things are sealed when I buy them ever since my mum drummed the pushy button thing on glass jars into me and I've only once come across something that had been opened.

KnopkaPixie · 14/12/2024 19:17

There’s some kind of bizarre prank that goes on in my town during a sort of posho kids music festival on the beach in which they steal one raw egg out of an egg box.

I was packing my shopping at the till and noticed that my eggs seemed oddly weighted and opened the box. Sure enough. One egg missing in a corner. "Oh, they do that. It's the Festival Of So And Such." said the cashier.

How surreal.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 14/12/2024 19:51

@KnopkaPixie I always check.the eggs when I buy them, in case they are cracked or broken.
If they cracked, they don't tend to move in the box.
Pushed my thumb through one once 😳! So put those back.

(Probably should have name-changed at the start of this...😉)

KnopkaPixie · 14/12/2024 19:57

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 14/12/2024 19:51

@KnopkaPixie I always check.the eggs when I buy them, in case they are cracked or broken.
If they cracked, they don't tend to move in the box.
Pushed my thumb through one once 😳! So put those back.

(Probably should have name-changed at the start of this...😉)

Yeah, I know checking the eggs is good consumer practice, nobody wants the swiggly deformed one that looks like the hen was having a really bad time of it laying the thing but I wasn't being very vigilant that day.

Still odd though. Is the idea that you can steal an egg without breaking it down your pants as some kind of student thing? Do they then all smash each others eggs through their clothes as some kind of mating ritual?

This is in France, which may give some surrealist sense of humour context.

Floralnomad · 14/12/2024 19:59

Never happened to me but I’m a bit obsessive about checking seals on things .

ProssecoSparkle · 14/12/2024 20:30

I always check the wrappers or lids are still as they should be. I've done that since the 80s/90s? When glass was found in baby milk or food.

I don't check eggs because they do that at the check out.

How horrible for you op getting home to find teeth marks in food yuck. You could always contact the shop to make them aware they have a problem.

Pedallleur · 14/12/2024 21:04

Nespresso pods. Regularly see packs with 1 missing. Might be 5 flavours and a couple of packs from each of the 5 has a pod missing. Since there are no consequences (see the shoplifting thread) then this eating stuff will keep happening.

healthybychristmas · 14/12/2024 22:48

I have often seen an empty box of sandwiches lying on an unrelated shelf. I'm pretty certain people go in and eat as they're going around and then dump the packages

Roselilly36 · 15/12/2024 08:20

Recently, when we were shopping an egg was missing from a box, we always check the eggs, so it was a surprise when we opened the box, I did laugh at the time and said, perhaps someone only wanted one. But it is a very sad situation if people have to do this out of necessity.

localhere · 15/12/2024 08:47

I once bought a box of calpol fastmelts when the kids were ill, got them home and the box was empty, that one's a bit sad

Original poster
404ErrorCode · 15/12/2024 11:16

Littletreefrog · 14/12/2024 19:08

I don't understand how someone had eaten some chocolate and resealed the packet. The tin of biscuits slightly more understandable but.did you not check the seal?

I think you have been unlucky as I do quickly check things are sealed when I buy them ever since my mum drummed the pushy button thing on glass jars into me and I've only once come across something that had been opened.

The chocolate was in cardboard, so it was quite discreetly slid out and eaten and put back. I’ll definitely be more always now though.

The tin of biscuits had the sellotape seal pealed back and put back on, because we had to remove it to open it! So it was done quite subtly.

My DH took the biscuits back last night, they were really good about it. Told us it’s happening more and more.

OP posts:
Original poster
404ErrorCode · 15/12/2024 11:17

Gross to hear the other stories too! I guess the staff are so busy they just cannot police every single isle and customer.

OP posts:
JohnRedding · 15/12/2024 11:29

Its seen as less risky to eat the food in the shop rather than walk out with it

FutureFry · 15/12/2024 11:30

Curious what shop this is, and where in the UK?

I shop in Tesco, Scotland and haven't ever encountered this. Will be on the lookout tho!

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