Sainsbury’s is threatening to prosecute light-fingered thieves who swap premium eggs into cheaper boxes, amid surging levels of shoplifting.

The high street supermarket has placed warnings in stores outlining that such a practice is ‘regarded as theft’, while customers are being watched by CCTV.

One such sign, shared on social media by retail analyst Steve Dresser, appeared on a shelf underneath Burford Browns eggs, which typically sell for £3.20 and promise a ‘delicious, dense golden yolk that will remind you of times gone by’.

By comparison, a box of six Sainsbury’s own-brand eggs sells for £1.80. 

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

Sainsbury’s move comes just months after social media influencers highlighted a growing trend in egg-swapping amid rising food prices.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the price of a dozen eggs has risen by a third from £2.48 in early 2022 to £3.31 today.

Earlier this year, Anita Wong, 53, discovered the ruse after purchasing a £4.50 ten-pack of Clarence Court eggs from her local Waitrose.

Upon opening the packaging, the Ealing resident found the premium eggs had been swapped for a cheaper, standard variety. 

In a video posted on Instagram, she said: ‘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 her local store, she was informed that the issue was ‘not uncommon’, with similar experiences being increasingly reported. 

The latest figures released this week suggest retailers are being hit hard by rising theft levels.

Shoplifting offences reported to police in England and Wales have more than doubled in five years.

Total thefts rose by 133 per cent from 228,128 in 2020/21 to 530,457 in 2024/25, according to House of Commons Library data analysed by the Liberal Democrats.

But just 19.8 per cent of offences in 2024/25 resulted in a charge being made – with the worst rate coming from the Metropolitan Police, which was only 6.5 per cent.

In defence of the numbers, Chief Inspector Rav Pathania, the Metropolitan Police’s head of business crime, said shoplifters are escaping justice because storekeepers are refusing to hand over CCTV to prosecute them.

His words echo those of his boss, Sir Mark Rowley, who in February was questioned by the Home Affairs Committee on thieves who regularly ‘clear whole shelves’ and walk out of shops without paying.

The Met Commissioner blamed the shoplifting epidemic on storekeepers – insisting they ‘don’t report anything’ and ‘need to do better’.

But Marks and Spencer’s retail director, Thinus Keeve, said his customer-facing staff were being subjected to violence and abuse every day, and has called on the Government and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan to crack down on crime.

Mr Keeve spoke out after unrest earlier this month involving one of the retail giant’s stores in Clapham, South London, which saw hundreds of youths swarm high street shops as part of an online trend.

Meanwhile, Costa Coffee has hired security guards at around ten stores facing repeated incidents of shoplifting in a bid to prevent its food and drinks being stolen. 

Lucy Whing, crime policy lead at the British Retail Consortium, told the Daily Mail: ‘The high level of shop theft is a major issue, and retailers are having to take decisive action to tackle it. Ultimately, we are all victims of retail crime, which pushes up the price of goods for honest shoppers. 

‘Retailers welcome the imminent passage of the Crime and Policing Bill, which will strengthen action against offenders, including making assaulting a retail worker a standalone offence, and removing the £200 threshold for investigating theft. 

‘It is vital the Police respond to every reported incident to visibly demonstrate to offenders that all types of retail crime will not be tolerated.’

A survey of 1,000 customer-facing workers in the UK by the Institute of Customer Service found around 43 per cent of frontline staff had experienced hostility or abuse from customers in the past six months, up from 36 per cent the previous year.

The Crime and Policing Bill, once passed, will make the assault of a retail worker an offence.