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https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... xperts-say

Britons increasingly turning to food black market, experts say

Increasing numbers of people are turning to a growing black market for food to supplement their diets as prices rocket, experts have said.

Meat, cheese and confectionery are among the items being stolen in large quantities from shops and lorries in order to be sold to people hit by the cost of living crisis.

With food prices rising, figures in policing, retail and academia said action was needed to stop people exploiting the rising demand for stolen food.

Retailers are reporting a record year for shoplifting, costing the industry £1bn this year, according to the British Retail Consortium’s estimate. Home Office data shows the crime has reached the highest level since records began, while the proportion of shoplifting incidents that resulted in a charge has fallen.

I visit a lot of car boot sales to keep my autistic child entertained. I see some stalls selling large quantities of confectionary or meat or new clothing at low prices. Some of them develop a scrum of customers around them looking for bargains.

Either it's nicked or it's fake.

Search about fake food in China for a few horror stories on food.

My Sister who once lived in Basildon had a friend nicknamed Plum, so named as he was supposed to steal a lorry full of cigarettes but mistakenly stole a lorry full of plums.

There's still plenty of 'excess' out there, so no need to 'nick' if you're savvy and a little 'creative' with menus.......

ASDA near me were selling broccoli stems and bags of sprouts, carrots & parsnips all for 15p each...
All A1 condition, 10 portions for £1.50, so should easily last well into the new year...

& there'll be lots of yellow sticker bargains in all supermarkets come 26th Dec..

A food waste charity I know (not a foodbank) collects 'waste' from supermarkets - anyone can go there...
£5 spend and you can pick up easily £30-40 worth of food - all edible, but what you get varies on the day...
My £5 got me x2 packs of nice bacon, some crab sticks, x3 tins of veg & fruit, x4 pack of yoghurts, cereal, cream, crisps, nachos, dips, chocolate brownies, fresh fruit (x3 bananas, x2 oranges, x1 lemon), bread, x2 cans of drink, x2 bottles of tonic water, mince pies and quite a bit more besides...
They're doing a 'special' on Christmas Eve - last year people got around £70 worth of produce...

Many legitimate bargains can be found on fresh produce when supply exceeds demand, or when the remaining shelf life is limited.

What is more surprising is heavily discounted prices on long shelf life goods, for example an expensive brand of chocolate bars reduced from £1.50 to 50 pence.
In such cases I suspect theft, fake goods seems unlikely as it tasted fine.

In the case of alcoholic drink being sold for less than the price of excise duty, then it is probably stolen, or fake.

You can get some great deals going around the market stalls late in the day