22 November 2023 , 16:06
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We’ve all seen people eating food at the supermarket before they’ve paid for it but can a shop call the police and have people arrested for stealing? A person sparked a huge debate on Quora when they asked, “Is it illegal to eat packaged food whilst in a supermarket and pay for it when you get to the counter?”
One commenter admitted they’re a repeat offender, saying: “I've eaten packaged items while standing in the checkout lane and given the wrapper to the cashier to ring up with no problem. “When I worked as a cashier, I had someone bring a banana peel. Although I appreciated the gesture, bananas were sold by weight. I didn't want to hold up the line by getting a similar banana to weigh so I told the customer we could chalk it up to being a sample as we had the discretion to do so.”
Another checkout worker agreed this was the case in her store, “As long as you scan the package or tell the cashier to ring it up it's not stealing at the supermarket I work at.” Another could not decide if it was legal but said they always do it and it was fine for them, “I’ve done it several times without any problems. I just put the empty container on the belt for the clerk to scan, and they put it in the waste bin after scanning.”
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But one more commenter singled out an actual term for this act, “Some stores like Walmart consider it “grazing” and frown on the practice while other stores like small town grocery stores don’t mind so much. It can be considered illegal since you are consuming something that you haven’t paid for but it’s a really weak case because they can’t prove that you didn’t intend to pay.”
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Warning that shops might play the long game to catch repeat offenders, “Just remember stores do have video surveillance and they are watching so if they see you doing it a few times they will be watching closely when you enter the store again.”
Another ex-store worker agreed but revealed they never actually punished anyone for doing it, “While working in Ohio I was told that opening and consuming a product even while in line waiting to pay is considered shoplifting and if a cashier wanted to be a jerk, they could technically call the cops on you. I never bothered because it seemed stupid. As long as they paid eventually, they were good in my book.”
One more ex-worker was dead against ‘grazing’, “It's called stealing! Until you buy that product it isn't yours. I used to work for a supermarket. Security would watch people doing this.” Some people chimed in with legitimate medical reasons why they’d need to consume supermarket food to balance out their sugars, “I was in Aldi and I suddenly felt my blood sugar beginning to drop.” Wrote a commenter.
“I opened a chocolate milkshake and began to drink it. It worked and my blood sugar began to stabilize, so I carefully and slowly finished the rest of my shopping and I went to the till to pay for my trolley. I paid for the milkshake, and I explained why I had consumed it before I left the shop, so this way there was no accusation of theft.”
Another said it was a great parenting hack to keep youngsters happy during the shopping trip but it could sometimes prove troublesome when it came to paying. “I have twin boys, and I would take them shopping with me to the grocery store. I would almost always pick up a bunch of bananas as one of the first items in my cart.
“About halfway through shopping, the boys would start to fuss, so I would peel a banana and give half to each. They would then be content for the rest of the time at the store.” The father said that he’d show the peel to the store clerk and get them to weigh another banana twice, essentially paying for the eaten banana.
He said some workers would understand straight away and charge up the eaten banana and some would get very confused and didn't end up charging him after a huge fuss. “Eventually, the twins grew out of needing to snack on a banana while I was shopping, and I could just set the bunch of bananas on the checkout line without making the universe tilt.”