Cost of living: Sainsbury's responds to viral TikTok video about 'beeping' packs of meat at Sheffield store

People have grown used to seeing security tags on packs of beef, pork and chicken on sale at shops around the country. But a new TikTok video which appears to show extra security measures being taken at a Sainsbury’s store in Sheffield has gone viral, racking up an incredible 1.6 million views and getting more than 36,000 likes.

In the 12-second clip, which is believed to have been filmed at the Sainsbury’s Local store on Bradway Road in Sheffield, a beeping noise can be heard each time a pack of beef ribeye steak, priced £5.30, is lifted from the shelf. The video was shared by TikTok user Hennezizi, who said: “@sainsburys rah are people really thieving meat ?! This cost of living crisis is really crisising #bradway #totley #dore #sheffield.”

The clip has generated more than 500 comments, with many people expressing their concerns at the rising price of food. Some people commented that people had been stealing meat long before the cost-of-living crisis hit, while others pointed out that security tags on meat were nothing new.

One person wrote: “That's been a thing in Sainsbury’s for years, it's a weighted alarm in the shelving, and for the meat, it's because anything over £3 is a security item.” The film’s creator responded: “I have never come across it and I even worked in Sainsbury’s for like three weeks in 2017 and also never seen it there then.”

Another person commented ‘companies perhaps are sick of having to claim on insurance’, to which Hennezizi replied: “I think people have been stealing meat and I think it has to do more with the management and stock checks for example then insurance.”

Although security tags which set off an alarm when customers try to leave the store without paying are now commonplace on pricier items, it is unclear how the store would benefit from a beeping noise sounding each time shoppers lift an item from the shelves.

The Star contacted Sainsbury’s, which said: “We can’t give further details due to security purposes, but an alarm does not sound when someone simply removes a product from the shelf.”