Is it Legal in Massachusetts to Eat Food in a Grocery Store Prior to Paying?

One duty that isn't really a favorite of mine is grocery shopping. Luckily, most of the time now I order my groceries online and then drive to the store for pickup. When I arrive in the parking lot I call the number on the sign and a member from the store brings my groceries to my car. Now that's what I'm talking about, convenience along with avoidance of long lines.

Get our free mobile app

Before I started doing the car delivery method, I did traditional grocery shopping. Most of the time I would do my shopping in Pittsfield, sometimes in Lenox, and once in a while in Great Barrington. One thing that I would see every now and again is shoppers eating food from the grocery store before checking out. I always assumed that was a bad idea but I never knew for sure if doing that is illegal since the shoppers usually pay for what they ate at check out, or at least I assume they did.

Is it Illegal in Massachusetts to Eat Food From the Grocery Store Prior to Paying?

According to Find Law, if you do pay for what you ate at check out it is legal to eat food in grocery stores before checking out. Where you can run into trouble is if you forget to pay. Obviously, that would be stealing. In addition, the type of food matters. This is because, if you eat something that is at a fixed price like a bag of peanuts that's okay as that is clear cut, black and white. But when you get into eating foods that are being measured by weight, you'll need to know exactly how much you ate otherwise that could fall under stealing as well even if it's unintentional. It's always a good idea to keep track of what your eating in the grocery store or better just wait until after you have paid for your items.