# Legal Question:What if you spike your food to catch a thief? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-what-if-you-spike-your-food-to-catch-a-thief/656311 "2013-04-21T15:32:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-what-if-you-spike-your-food-to-catch-a-thief/656311/62 "2013-04-23T04:41:34Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > I wonder if there’s a safe chemical one could add to the food that would cause an obvious pigment change? I suppose that would only work for fairer-skinned culprits, though. But I doubt there would be much of a claim, for a temporary color change: it’s not like bodily harm. [Silver](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyria) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-what-if-you-spike-your-food-to-catch-a-thief/656311/63 "2013-04-23T12:14:05Z")
I think that raw onions and garlic in the sandwich will reveal the perpetrator in a somewhat liability-free fashion. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-what-if-you-spike-your-food-to-catch-a-thief/656311/64 "2013-04-23T14:15:30Z")
My suggestion is heavily salt the food. No legal liability, no physical harm, and lesson taught. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-what-if-you-spike-your-food-to-catch-a-thief/656311/65 "2013-04-23T17:26:44Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > [Silver](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyria) Not temporary. ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-what-if-you-spike-your-food-to-catch-a-thief/656311/66 "2013-04-23T18:03:12Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Professor Phardtpounders Colon Cleaner hot sauce Just wanted to say that this is fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![OHAB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e99b99/32.png) [@OHAB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OHAB)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-what-if-you-spike-your-food-to-catch-a-thief/656311/67 "2013-04-23T23:04:20Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > I can only say that whatever your original story is - stick to it. Later admitting that, “Yes, I slathered “Screaming Sphincter [Cayenne Pepper Sauce](http://www.organichealthandbeauty.com/Hot-Cayenne-Extract_p_59.html)” on my baloney sandwich to cause pain and discomfort to the dirtbag who was stealing my lunch”, is going to get you into trouble. > > As I spend more time thinking about this, putting one drop of Professor Phardtpounders Colon Cleaner hot sauce at each corner of my sandwich is sure to make things unpleasant for a lunch thief BUT I’ll need to remember to remove the corners before I eat the sandwich or bring a snowcone to sit on. 😃 I think this could kill someone who responds agreesively to spicy food. > [@control-z](#): > > My suggestion is heavily salt the food. No legal liability, no physical harm, and lesson taught. This would make a person want to die, but as mention… wouldn’t do much harm. Once as kids my sister made some brownies and used salt instead of sugar. After taking a huge bit and chewing a few times, I was unable to add salt to my food for nearly 14 years… TRUE STORY… no lie! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-what-if-you-spike-your-food-to-catch-a-thief/656311/68 "2013-04-24T05:41:09Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > The weird thing is how extremely common this problem is at employers. > > What kind of personality deficit does it take to steal somebody else lunch? In our case, it turned out to be the boss. How much does the CEO of an Ad Agency make? Enough to buy his own PB&J, I’d bet. He was caught with the laxative trick. There was no talk of lawsuits, just pain on the one hand, glee on the other. ---
**Author:** ![baccer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b77776/32.png) [@baccer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baccer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-what-if-you-spike-your-food-to-catch-a-thief/656311/69 "2013-04-24T11:35:50Z")
Don’t put anything in the food, but if you do figure out who’s doing it, you could send them a nice little note after the fact, like " Stop stealing our food, eat this!" Along with this present, of course. [http://www.shitsenders.com/](http://www.shitsenders.com/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-what-if-you-spike-your-food-to-catch-a-thief/656311.md?page=3)