Officials hope shoplifting from Whole Foods Market just became more difficult.

The Foggy Bottom supermarket will have a security guard watching over the entrance during most peak hours in an effort to combat theft.

Store manager Donovan Morris said the added security will keep customers and their personal belongings safer.

“It is because we were experiencing a lot of theft, not just product but customers were getting purses stolen as well as computers and other personal items,” Morris said.

The security guards have already caught several GW students shoplifting. Those students said the store banned them from entering for five years.

Shoplifting was a concern, but Morris said “the safety of people” was the store’s top priority.

At least eight students reported that their belongings had been stolen at Whole Foods in the past year, according to the University’s crime log.

The Whole Foods regional and corporate offices declined to comment on individual store policies or why security guards were added to the supermarket.

Whole Foods uses a color-coded system to prevent theft from the made-to-order food court, using brown bags for items that have been paid for and white unpaid orders.

Brandon Lee contributed reporting.