Shoplifting a rump roast? That's one even Winona Ryder didn't think of. But here's a warning for people who want to take their steak and eat it, too — some local grocery stores are placing anti-theft tags in the packages.
When a fellow reporter told me about finding one in a roast package bought at a Smith's Food and Drug, we both speculated (wrongly) that there was a connection to the soaring beef prices.
The popular high-protein, low-carb diets have fueled the demand for beef. Meanwhile, mad cow disease was diagnosed in Canada, and the United States closed its border to Canadian beef imports. So, we thought, beef had become so valuable grocery stores were taking precautions against fanatical Atkins and South Beach dieters.
But when I called Marsha Gilford, Smith's spokesperson, she said within the year most items over $5 will be tagged with anti-theft devices in all Smith's stores. That includes pork, seafood and turkey— not just beef.
"Mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart and Target already use them, and many manufacturers are routinely placing anti-theft devices during the manufacturing process," said Gilford. "In our non-foods division, razor blades have put this scanning device in their packaging for a long time now. This was initiated by Kroger, our parent company. It's something they think will go a long way to lower our overhead and keep our prices competitive."
I called a SuperTarget manager, who confirmed that his store uses security tags on many store items but couldn't say exactly which ones.
You may have bought items with anti-theft tags and not noticed them. At the Smith's store at 876 E. 800 South, an employee at the meat counter had to point them out to me. They're a strip of red plastic, 1/4 inch wide and about 1 1/2 inches long. There's nothing that says it's a theft tag, just a notice to "remove before microwaving." Some were inside the fresh-meat packages. The tag was attached on the outside of a bag of frozen shrimp.
The industry term for this is electronic article surveillance, or EAS. An article by Richard Salceda of Universal Surveillance Systems Inc. explained that EAS generally includes tags or labels, a deactivator or detacher, and some type of detector. A transmitter sends a signal to a receiver in a specific area, creating a surveillance zone — usually the exit of a retail store. When a tag with a certain frequency enters this zone, the receiver detects a signal and creates a loud sound.
So if you try walking out the door without paying and deactivating the signal, the item will beep. (I'm not sure exactly what it sounds like — I didn't want to try it to find out.)
"Whatever alarm is activated by the packaging is a fairly universal signal, and it will be picked up as it moves through a scanning device near the doors," said Gilford.
The tags haven't been implemented in all stores yet — at least not in the Smith's in Farmington when I visited last week.
Shoplifters Anonymous Inc. estimates there are 23 million shoplifters in America and that retailers across America lose $25 million a day to shoplifting. According to the group's statistics, 63 percent of shoplifters steal in supermarkets, 69 percent in department stores and 54 percent in convenience stores. Just 25 percent of shoplifters are juveniles; the rest are adults.
But who would attempt to smuggle out a roast, or a ham or a turkey? It's usually a long walk from the meat department to the front door.
"Unfortunately, there are many creative people, and there's nothing that's sacred in terms of shoplifting," said Gilford. "People can be fairly bold. We don't go into a ton of details about our security. But we've learned from mass merchandisers that this is an effective way to reduce our shrink — the gap between what you put in the store and what is actually sold."
She said she couldn't give figures on how much the tags cost but added, "To be honest, it will probably pay for itself with the reduction in loss. Shoplifting costs."
E-MAIL: vphillips@desnews.com