A shopper alleges via TikTok that an alarm sounded every time she touched certain meat packages at her local Sainsbury’s grocery store.
The video, posted by user @hennezi.zi, shows her attempting to pick up a package of beef from behind a shelf. Every time she picks up the package, however, a small alarm dings.
“I’m about to touch the meat,” she says before lifting up the package. “Everytime!” she exclaims after the alarm went off.
She doubled down in the caption: “Are people really thieving meat?! This cost of living crisis is really crisising.” As of publication, her video has over 3.3 million views.
@hennezi.zi @sainsburys rah are people really thieving meat ?! This cost of living crisis is really crisising 💀 #bradway #totley #dore #sheffield #costofliving #costoflivingcrisis #costoflivingcrisisuk #sainsburys #supermarket #fyp #foryourpage ♬ original sound – Hennezizi
The hashtags of @hennezi.zi’s TikTok lead viewers to believe that she’s shopping at a Sainsbury’s location in London. The Daily Dot has reached out to @hennezi.zi via TikTok comment. It is not immediately clear from her video whether or not this was an issue with all meat items at the store.
In a statement to YorkshireLive, however, Sainsbury’s denied claims about the alarms. “We can’t give further details due to security purposes, but an alarm does not sound when someone simply removes a product from the shelf,” a spokesperson said.
Still, many viewers questioned whether the rising costs of food and groceries—coupled with the fact that meat is one of the most commonly stolen and resold items in grocery stores—left retailers to add alarm trips.
“Cost of greed crisis,” reads the top comment on the video, with over 10,200 likes.
“They would rather it spoil and rot at ridiculous prices than feed a starving family who had to take someone,” wrote a second user.
“#costofgreedcrisis,” said a third viewer. “#taxtherich.”
