Sainsbury’s issues warning to thieves swapping out eggs

The supermarket warned customers they being watched on CCTV to prevent ‘egg theft’ in signs throughout the store (Picture: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)

Sainsbury’s is warning they will catch thieves who are swapping premium eggs into cheaper egg boxes.

The supermarket warned customers they are being watched on CCTV to prevent ‘egg theft’ in signs throughout the store.

The warning reads: ‘Removing eggs from the packet is regarded as theft. Footage of shoplifting will be passed to the police. We prosecute all shoplifters.’

And it is also affecting other shoppers, who buy a box of the more expensive eggs to find they have been swapped out for cheaper ones.

Earlier this year, Anita Wong, 53, found she had paid more for eggs which were not the right ones.

She said in a post on Instagram: ‘This is what’s happening in a lot of supermarkets at the moment.

‘The more expensive eggs, people are actually decanting those into the less expensive egg boxes and buying them, so the people who are buying the more expensive eggs are unwillingly buying the less expensive eggs.’

When she returned the eggs to the store, she was told the issue was ‘not uncommon’.

It comes as shoplifting incidents rose 20% year-on-year to 2024, reaching the highest level since records began, according to official figures, and in 2025, soared another 5%.

A Metropolitan Police chief has said shoplifters are escaping justice because shopkeepers aren’t handing over CCTV evidence to police.

The Met Police reports that around 5.9% of thefts recorded led to a charge as of March 2025.

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