Why is Cheese the Most Stolen Food in the World?

According to Time, 4% of the world’s cheese ends up stolen, making it the most stolen food in the entire world! Most of the cheese that is stolen is resold to other stores or restaurants. Just Google "cheese heist" and you'll find hundreds of stories about cheese robberies. But, why?

Cheese is expensive! For example, a wheel of Parmigiano can be sold for over $1,000. That's good money makin' for someone who can get their hands on a wheel at no cost. According to CBS News and the Parmigiano Reggiano consortium, over $7 million of cheese was stolen between 2015-2017.

Wisconsin, the cheese capital of the United States, is also a big target for cheese thieves. In January 2016, 41,000 pounds of Parmesan cheese, worth nearly $100,000 was stolen from a Marshfield, Wisconsin distributor. $70,000 worth of cheddar cheese was stolen from a tractor trailer in Germantown, Wisconsin. Both loads of cheese were successfully recovered, but the suspects were never caught. I guess you could say that they got a whey with it. 😉 These cases are only the tip of the cheese theft iceberg.