Meat & Cheese The Most Shoplifted Items.

The British Centre for Retail Research has released the first-ever global study on shoplifting and has identified cheese and meat as the items most often stolen.

The Centre surveyed over 1,187 retailers from all business sectors and in 43 different countries. From these surveys, the researchers identified the top 7 ‘high-risk’ items, or in other words, items stolen most often. Topping the list at numbers 1 and 2 were cheese and raw meat. Interestingly, fruits and vegetables didn’t even make the list. I guess no one is interested in stealing healthy food.

Globally, cheese is the most stolen item, but in the US, meat is king. It hasn’t always been this way though. Up until 2003, health-care products and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals used to make methamphetamines were the most ‘high-risk’ items. A government mandate ordering the secured storage and sale of products containing pseudoephedrine bumped health-care products off the list and put meat at the top. It’s not surprising that meat and meth ingredients are the most shoplifted items in the US because animal products can be as addictive as drugs.

Globally, people who steal are more likely to take cheese or meat before anything else. Perhaps it’s a symptom of the rising costs of animal products, maybe meat-eaters are more prone to a life of crime, or maybe people are just feeding their addictions. Whatever the case, I urge shoplifters of the world to change their ways. Leave the meat and dairy in the cold case and grab an apple next time.