Woman Opens, Eats Sushi While Grocery Shopping, Sparks Debate

We all know grocery shopping while hungry is not a well-advised idea since looking at food only increases our cravings.

But one TikToker is going viral for promoting eating while shopping—and thinks everyone should be doing it.

In a video, which has garnered over 4.3 million views, Cecily Bauchmann reveals she ate an order of spicy salmon sushi while perusing the aisles of her local grocery store, as she placed her groceries on the check-out conveyor belt and chatting with the clerk.

@cecilybauchmann OPENING FOOD IS A NORMAL THING AT THE GROCERY STORE K??✨#relatablemom #relatablemomlife #groceryshopping #groceryhaul #grocerystore ♬ original sound – Cecily Bauchmann

“I also opened this in the store,” she tells the worker while holding up the empty sushi box, “I’m sorry I was so hungry!”

It appears she paid for the sushi after she put the box down with the other groceries being rung up.

Her quirky and somewhat controversial choice to eat a meal before she paid for it earned a mixed reaction from viewers.

“From time to time, it is just necessary,” one viewer wrote in solidarity.

“I’ve done this with drinks so many times. I do it with snacks for my kids sometimes too,” another explained. “I don’t see anything wrong with it as long as you pay.”

Others, however, were not as approving of Bauchmann’s behavior.

“My mama never ever let us do this, and I get lowkey embarrassed when anyone I’m with does this,” one woman said. “Didn’t realize it was so normal.”

“I have never in my life opened food in the store or even considered it,” another said bluntly.

Related: Mark Cuban Shares His Hack for How to Get Cheaper Groceries

Bauchmann revealed on Instagram that she recently moved to Tennessee, which is currently amid its Grocery Tax Holiday that began on August 1 and will end on October 31, which exempts food and food ingredients from sales tax within that period.

There is no state law where it is illegal to consume groceries before a customer has paid for them — so long as they are paid for before the customer leaves the store.