Is Cheese Really The Most Stolen Item In Illinois Grocery Stores?

In the interests of full disclosure, I have to say that I once worked at a local grocery store for about three years and never saw anyone swiping cheese. More than a few shoppers would cut the cheese while browsing up and down store aisles (we stockboys called it "crop dusting"), but we never caught a cheese thief, to my knowledge.

If you had to guess the most stolen item at grocery stores in Illinois, what would you say? Something along the lines of steak, or baby formula? Maybe diapers? Possibly laundry detergent? Believe it or not, multiple retail industry reports over the years have pointed to the same unlikely food item over and over again: cheese.

Yes. Cheese.

Retail theft studies, including global surveys conducted by retail security groups, have consistently ranked cheese among the most shoplifted grocery items worldwide. It may sound strange at first, but when you think about it, it starts to make sense.

Apparently, Cheese Checks A Lot Of Boxes For The Would-Be Grocery Thieves Out There

It’s relatively expensive, depending on what you want, like specialty varieties. It’s also small enough to conceal easily (unless you're grabbing one of those giant wheels like they roll down a hill in England every year). It doesn’t have security tags like higher-priced electronics. It’s in steady demand, and in some cases, it can even be resold.

So, are Illinois grocery stores specifically battling a cheddar crisis that you and I didn't know about?

Hard data at the state level is harder to come by. Most "shrink" (the retail term for theft and loss) statistics are reported nationally, not state-by-state. But Illinois stores face the same retail pressures the rest of the country does, like rising food prices, tighter household budgets, and organized retail theft rings targeting easy-to-move products.

And cheese isn’t alone.

Grocery Thieves In Illinois And Elsewhere Do Steal Other Things Besides Cheese

Other commonly stolen grocery items include meat, alcohol, over-the-counter medications, and high-end personal care products. Baby formula has also frequently made the list due to its high resale value.

So why does cheese always grab the headline?

Because it’s surprising and somewhat goofy-weird. There’s something oddly fascinating about imagining someone risking arrest for a block of gouda. But when grocery prices climb, even everyday items become more financially tempting.

Retailers have responded with more cameras, locked cases for certain products, and increased security. Some stores have even placed expensive cheeses in monitored sections.