Some British shops are security tagging choice pieces of meat in anticipation of increased shoplifting as a result of the worldwide financial crisis. The director general of the British Retail Consortium commented: "Retailers are preparing for a rapid rise in offences and are adapting crime prevention methods."

Pak n Save, New World and Four Square supermarkets, owned by New Zealand's Foodstuffs, have added security tags not only to health and beauty products, but also to food products like meat, as well as smaller packaged goods. Progressive Enterprises (which owns Foodtown, Countdown, Woolworths, Fresh Choice and Super Value supermarkets) also began a security tagging programme earlier this year.

Foodstuffs spokesperson Emma Wooster explains that two different types of tags are being used. Some items have hard tags similar to those used on clothing, but paper tags are also used and embedded onto product labels or inserted into packaging. Both work on electronic frequencies and using antenna, in a similar way to security tags on clothes and electronic goods; if a shopper leaves without paying, an alarm sounds and police are called. 
 
"Theft is a cost to every business and it's been widely reported that it's on the increase. Ultimately, the cost of theft adds to the retail prices of products so we do everything we can to try to prevent it," Wooster said.