As Canadians continue to experience rising food inflation that outpaces overall inflation for the fourth year in a row, the underbelly of society has taken it upon themselves to profit from the ballooning cost of groceries.
Consumer experts are saying that not only have pricey sirloin steaks and poultry caught the eyes of thieves, but organized crime has gotten involved, reports CTV News. “They sell the pieces of meat on the black market, and that is a big problem for us now,” said Florent Gravel, president of Food Retailers Association of Quebec.
CBC News Canada is saying Alberta grocers have been confronted with a slightly different method of thievery where instead of slipping a package of hamburger under the coat, thieves are actually loading grocery carts with hundreds of dollars worth of meat and wheeling them out the door.
Graham Getz, the general manager of the St. Paul Co-op grocery store said, “Sometimes they actually throw the whole cart and everything into the back of the van or back of a truck and then they leave.”
Getz added that the store has had four major thefts in the last six weeks. Each time, over $500 worth of meats was stolen, including cheese, another high-priced item. “It’s frustrating because we’re trying to merchandise our store so it can be attractive to all of our really good customers,” Getz said.
It is believed a whole string of stores is targeted with the different thefts, and the goods are being sold to restaurants and bars. In order to combat the thefts, retailers are using a number of proven methods, including security tags that trigger an alarm at the exit door. The tags are either hidden under the label of a product or hidden within a box. However, they are costly, at about $1 a piece.
There is also an even bigger concern regarding the stolen meat products, and that is the risk to consumers of food-borne illness. Once the meats are taken out of the grocery stores, the packages are often broken down into easily resalable parts, and there is no control over how this is handled. Consumers should be aware of the risk involved with buying meats that have obviously come from “parts unknown.”
