Coles shoppers have been left outraged after a customer spotted security labels on meat packages as the supermarket cracks down on theft.
Mandy Van shared footage on TikTok when she saw gray labels and bright yellow warning stickers on items at Coles in Boronia, in Melbourne’s east.
The clip, which has been viewed more than 150,000 times, showed dozens of trays of meat stored inside an open refrigerator with security labels attached.
“Tell me you live in the ghetto without telling me you live in the ghetto,” Ms. Van wrote.
Hundreds of people posted comments criticizing the supermarket giant for implementing extreme security measures.
“What is happening in this world when a supermarket has more security than a bank?” wrote one.
“Wow, I’m sure they’ll be rolling this out to all Coles stores soon,” added a second.
“That’s crazy,” said another.
One shopper said his local Coles store is preventing customers from buying cuts of meat straight from the shelves.
“You have to go and ask the butcher, who puts another scan code on the meat so you beep at the checkout and have a second worker scan it again,” they wrote.
Others said the labels have been up for a while at various stores.
“The meat has been security tagged since they implemented self-checkout years ago to prevent people from not scanning it,” one person wrote.
A Coles spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the supermarket has introduced a number of security measures, including CCTV cameras, to reduce retail theft.
“The TikTok showing labels on some meat products is a very small trial in just 10 Victorian stores,” they said.
‘We are always re-evaluating and testing new safety measures, and are interested in hearing local feedback on the trial.
The clip, which has been viewed more than 150,000 times, showed dozens of trays of meat stored inside an open refrigerator with labels attached to the products (pictured).
‘It is important to note that the majority of customers do the right thing in the store. Measures like this are for those who don’t do it.’
It is understood that the trial to introduce the security labels began earlier this year.
The spokesperson said Woolworths also has a number of other measures to help reduce retail crime.
“These initiatives include the use of camera technology at checkouts, double welcome doors, CCTV and a trial of doors at the exit of our self-service checkout area,” they said.
“Most of our customers do the right thing and we thank them for doing so.”
The implementation of the measures comes as new data revealed that meat theft increased by 85 percent between 2022 and 2023.
Findings from retail crime intelligence platform Auror also revealed that 67,000 incidents of meat theft were reported in 2023.
Pork was the most stolen meat, with thefts increasing by 35 percent.
Lamb was the second most popular among thieves, at 31 percent, followed by beef at 15 percent.