Tesco Adds Security Tags to Ham and Other Everyday Items in Anti-Shoplifting Move

Packets of ham have been fitted with security tags in the latest anti-shoplifting measures to hit supermarkets. Tesco have put yellow stickers reading 'security protected' on a range of their lunch meats. Some of the items they were on included £2.50 honey roast ham, chicken fillets priced at £2.75, Tesco Finest Wiltshire Cured Ham for £3.75, blocks of £3.35 cheddar cheese, £2.75 roast beef slices and £4.50 gammon. Mince meat and pork were also slapped with the same yellow stickers. Tesco shoppers were left baffled by the decision to put security tags on the pocket-friendly every day items. Dylan John, 48, said: 'It's like Fort Knox in there. You can't move without security keeping a beady eye on you. 'I only pooped in for a lettuce and felt like Ronnie Kray walking round the aisles.' They were spotted in Tesco Express, in Central Drive, Blackpool, Lancashire.

The mini supermarket is in the shadows of the town's seaside resort's Blackpool Tower. Shoppers have been spotting yellow anti-theft stickers appearing on all sorts of items in the last few months. On X, one wrote: 'I just had to get a security tag removed from a £4 bottle of washing detergent at my local Tesco. What is going on??' Another wrote: '@Tesco I bought some pyjama bottoms at a Tesco Extra yesterday (I have the receipt!) using a self service till & there’s a security tag still on it! How do I get it off, given that I live miles from any Tesco stores that sell clothes' 'I bought a bottle of wine for £7.50 in a Tesco Express in Coleford in the Wye Valley last week. It also had a security tag. I was surprised by that,' said a third. A fourth wrote: 'In Tesco in London yesterday I saw a Chomp with a security tag and an armed guard protecting it. London is finished.'

It comes after Tesco introduced new anti-shoplifting devices on their shelves which left customer's wondering how the contraptions could possible deter thieves. The plastic flaps are positioned loosely in front of store items and in footage uploaded to social media are seen being freely slid from left to right to uncover the goods. A strange creaking noise is also a feature of the appliances which in the video shield boxes of chocolate like Ferrero Rocher and Milk Tray. Taking to TikTok, many users had strong opinions on Tesco's latest initiative. One person said: 'How does this stop shoplifting?' Another added: 'So you can slide it over and get what you need. So how is going to stop shop lifters?' Others said they believed a solution would be to make the items more 'affordable' rather than upping the security.

Another measure introduced by Tesco recently to thwart shoplifters ended up enraging innocent customers instead. Fuming shoppers said they feel like criminals as they are 'herded like cattle' through Tesco's new giant trolley scales aimed at clamping down on theft. The British Retail Consortium says stealing from stores is 'out of control', costing shops £2billion a year, and Tesco is now taking a new approach to fight back. But their new initiative went down badly in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, when MailOnline visted in March in the first UK store where the scales were being trialled. One shopper emerged close to tears after the weight of her trolley did not match her self-scan receipt and she suffered the 'humiliation' of having her bags re-scanned. She told MailOnline: 'I felt like a criminal. It was completely humiliating and I won't be using that service again.'

Tesco Clubcard members have the option of using the store's 'Scan As You Shop' option, scanning though each item that goes in their trolley and paying for it at the end. The method had relied largely on trust - until the weighing scales were moved into the Tesco Extra at Trinity Square, close to the Tyne Bridge. Now 'Scan As You Shop' customers are directed through the scales and they can be pulled to one side if there is any discrepancy between the weight and what is on their self-scan receipt. There is then a short 'walk of shame' over to an area where bags are unpacked and re-scanned until rogue items are discovered. A study in March found nearly a quarter of the UK population have witnessed shoplifting in the last 12 months. The figure is the equivalent of more than 16 million people seeing such an event, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Opinium poll. It is perhaps no surprise as the statistic follows figures revealed by the Mail on Sunday in September 2023 that theft takes place every two seconds in Britain.