Putting Security First

The statistics are dismal.

• In a blitz this past summer, the FDA and the U.S. Customs Service found that 88 percent of drug products examined at mail facilities in Miami and New York City were found to be counterfeit and contained "potentially dangerous" substances.

• Shrinkage—revenue lost to product pilferage, tampering, counterfeiting, etc.—cost U.S. retailers $31.3 billion in 2002, according to a presentation by Valeron Strength Films (Houston, Texas), which cites information from a National Retail Federation National Retail Security Survey from November 2002.