Claim: Razor blades have been found amidst merchandise sold at a
PARTLY TRUE
Example: [Collected via e-mail, November 2008]
I wanted to make all of you aware of possible danger while shopping and gift giving... a few weeks ago I purchased a pair of pants at the Lewistown
Origins: This warning has been in circulation since
that no accidents or injuries involving them have ever been reported, and that the last such find was about a year and a half ago. Such discoveries, we were told, are "very rare."
In general, the finding of loose razor blades or other cutting implements around retail stores is a known occasional occurrence. The inclusion of anti-theft measures on easily stealable items has prompted some shoplifters to cut merchandise out of its packaging while they are still in the store. This practice sometimes involves first appropriating razor blades or Exacto knives from that same store, using those implements to free desired items from their casings or store security tags, then discarding the tools used to open the packaging. These discards can be quite haphazard: razor blades or knives are shoved onto shelves or stashed among packaged merchandise, with little thought given to the safety of other shoppers. As to what sort of goods these thieves are after, it's everything from CDs and small electronics to cough and cold medications and weight loss
It's also the case that employees who restock store shelves typically use various types of bladed instruments to open boxes and cartons, and they too may sometimes drop, lose, or accidentally leave blades from such implements in areas where shoppers might later encounter them.
The bottom line is that while the incident recounted above may not have been confirmed, razor blades and similar sharp instruments that have been discarded by shoplifters (or lost by employees) are occasionally found in various retail establishments. There is therefore no protection to be gained by thinking the problem is limited to just one store at one particular location: If consumers need to be concerned about random encounters with slicing implements during their shopping forays, they need to be concerned about them in every store, not just the one named in an
Barbara "panic buttoned" Mikkelson
Last updated: 3 December 2008