Food theft in Hawai'i public school cafeterias is not a problem, said Glenna Owens, director of the Department of Education's food service program.

"The managers do an inventory (and) everything is locked, so the standards are pretty rigid on who has access to (the food), and students aren't allowed in the storage area," she said. "If there was theft, they would have to access a dollar amount and then it would come to my desk."

Owens said she hasn't come across anything like what schools on the Mainland are experiencing.

Schools with a lot of a la carte items might have a more of a problem, but Hawai'i public school cafeterias have a line and sometimes a salad bar. If there are any a la carte items, they're placed before the point of service, so there's no way a student could take something and not pay for it, she said.