Cheese has been labelled a "high-risk food" because it is the most stolen food item across the globe, according to a report.

Shoplifting and organised retail crime cost the UK high street an estimated £4.9m during the past 12 months, according to the Centre for Retail Research.

Theft is a growing concern for shop owners and the amount of stolen retail goods increased by 6.2% in the year to July.

Food products are amongst the most targeted products, with cheese topping the list.

The dairy item's loss percentage (3.9%) is more than three times the global average (1.29%).

Neil Matthews, vice-president of Checkpoint Systems, a retail security firm, said: "Compared to the 2010 figures, loss among the high-risk food lines has shot up by more than the global average, evidence that they are increasingly being targeted by shoplifters."

Some 1.86% of clothing sales were lost last year, while mascara, eyeliner and eyeshadow increased to 2.37%.

Thieves tended to opt for branded products - shoplifters stole an average of £79 worth of goods each time, according to the Global Retail Theft Barometer 2011.

Emmanuel Hembert, retail analyst at AT Kearney, said: "Retail casualties have been extremely high over the summer and some of the most exposed retailers have already disappeared from the high street.

"For the past six months, they have been affected by bad news - economic slow down, government cuts and now an increase in shoplifting.

"With the bad news piling up, bigger names on the high street may not be able to resist the tide."

It also seemed retailers need to keep an eye on their own staff. The report showed theft by UK employees represents 36.1% of the total loss.

Mr Matthews said: "It's extremely worrying that the actions of some people can end up affecting innocent families financially, which is a cost the majority of people can ill-afford in this tough economic climate."

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/Cheese-Is-Most-Stolen-Food-skynews-3396833770.html?x=0

Swedes are the worst shoplifting offenders in the Nordic region, costing every resident 779 kronor ($117) per year in higher retail prices, a new study
“We have people who use the store like their own refrigerator,” the owner of an Ica grocery store told the TT news agency.

An estimated 6.4 billion kronor worth of goods will be stolen from stores in Sweden this year, according to a study carried out by the Checkpoint Systems security firm.

Among the most popular items Swedes acquired using a five-finger discountare accessories, shaving products, and meat

Cheese, children's clothing, and cosmetics are also popular among Swedish shoplifters.

“We have people who use the store like their own refrigerator and completely overlook the fact that they should pay for things. There are also gangs who steal. They take chocolate cookies and Nescafé for which there is a second-hand market,” Örjan Josefsson, the owner of an Ica grocery store in Stockholm, told TT.

Employee and supplier thefts have decreased compared to last year, which shoplifting now accounts fro half of the goods that disappear of Swedish store shelves without being paid for.

The Swedish Trade Federation (Svensk Handel), an organisation representing the retail and wholesale trade, thinks that the police don't take the thefts seriously enough and that the resale of stolen goods is a major problem.

“We have the organised thefts were people go into stores and empty a whole section of goods. That's a job that someone has ordered and they sell the goods on right away,” Per Geijer, head of security issues with the Federation, told TT.

In Sweden, store thefts amount to 1.40 percent of sales, the highest figure among the Nordic countries.

Geijer had no explanation as to why more retail goods are stolen in Sweden than in Norway, Finland and Denmark, pointing out that Swedish law is adequate.

“But we have a legal system which leaves something to be desired. When stores file police reports about thefts, no one does anything about it,” he said.

Store owner Joseffon has stopped reporting shoplifters to the police.

“We simply take the goods away from them and send them on their way,” he told TT.