- Boxes have been locked up in the Tesco Extra store in Osterley, west London
A Tesco store is wrapping high-tech security tags around a £30 Guinness gadget as it becomes the latest item to be targeted by shoplifters.
Nitrosurge boxes have been locked up in the Tesco Extra in Osterley, west London, as the UK’s shoplifting epidemic continues.
Pictures show black tags wrapped around the battery-powered device which promises to ‘create the iconic Guinness surge’.
As well as the gadget, the boxes contain a USB charging cable and a cleaning brush. MailOnline asked Tesco if the new security measure is on a store-by-store basis or whether it is being enforced company wide, but they declined to comment.
The device has also started to pop up on eBay with one being sold for an extortionate £110.60 in December – almost four times more than its in-store price.
The gadget was advertised by Fifty Shades of Grey actor James Dornan in a 2021 commercial.
In it, he sits in a penthouse pouring a can of Guinness into a glass using the Nitrosurge and says: ‘Guinness Nitrosurge. The easy way to experience the ritual of Guinness search and settle. Wherever you are.’
MailOnline has contacted Guinness owner Diageo for comment.
Graham Wynn, assistant director of business regulation at the British Retail Consortium, told MailOnline: ‘Stealing – however small – is not a victimless crime.
‘The £1.8bn a year lost to shop theft would be better spent investing in lower prices and better service for customers. Meanwhile, retailers are forced to spend a further £1.2bn a year on anti-crime measures such as CCTV, security personnel, security tags, and other anti-theft devices.
‘More police action is needed as without an effective deterrent, criminals will continue to steal with impunity.’
Last month shoppers mocked Co-op for encasing a £1.45 ginger shot drink in a security box in its store in Ickenham, Uxbridge.
The supermarket already has a number of high-valued items in tagged security boxes – including £5 pork loin steaks, a £5.65 box of diced beef and a set of £5.85 lamb chops.
While last year, Aldi started fitting yellow security stickers to its Dairy Milk, Twirl, Mars and Snickers bars to stop thieves from snatching the chocolate.
Last September, Co-op removed chocolates from their boxes and displayed empty packets in a bid to prevent shoplifting.
Dummy packets of Ferrero Rocher, empty jars of Nescafe, and multipacks of John West tuna caged in security cases have been snapped at one south London store.
According to the Office for National Statistics, shoplifting had increased by 25% in the last year.
It comes as rampant inflation has increased the price of a typical weekly family shop by more than a third in just two years.
Analysis of official statistics by the Liberal Democrats in September 2023 suggested prices of a host of staples have risen by 37 per cent since the summer of 2021.
Other products in empty boxes include Lindt chocolates and Fairy liquid with a sign telling shops to ask a member of staff for the product.
Tags were also seen on toilet rolls in a Tesco Express store in Bromley and Beckenham, south London, where the shoplifting rate is one of the highest in the country.
The tags are placed on the plastic wrapping of Andrex rolls, which cost £3.75 for four.
Baby formula also started to be caged in Boots’ plush High Street Kensington store with the pharmacy saying that the items at most risk of theft are tagged.
The shoplifting scourge sparked a powerful coalition of industry leaders to call on the police to help retailers and get tough on shoplifters and tackle unprecedented levels of theft.
Currently, officers do not investigate items stolen under £200 since the threshold was introduced in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. While some retailers say even violent attacks on innocent staff are being ignored.