Monday, November 06, 2006

Hard cheese for stores as Italy's thieves find parmesan a soft touch

Italian supermarkets have been forced to train closed-circuit television cameras on their parmesan counters after a survey revealed that the cheese has become the most popular product in the country - among shoplifters.

Lumps of the hard, granular cheese, which Italians love to sprinkle on their pasta, are stolen from the shelves of Italy's stores more often than any other item, according to a survey by the Italian farmers' union, Coldiretti.

It accounts for 10 per cent of goods stolen from shops every year – ahead of joints of meat and razor blades, which are also popular with light-fingered Italians.

Coldiretti's survey found that for every 10 pieces of parmesan purchased, one was stolen.

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