Now Stores Are Fighting Back Protecting Ice Cream From Lickers

It's got to be one of the most disgusting challenges that we have faced as a nation. People taking ice cream out of store freezers, licking it, then putting it back.

It all started after footage of a young woman opening a tub of Blue Bell ice cream in a Texas supermarket, licking it, then returning it to the freezer, went viral. Of course that sparked a rash of copy cats, and thus the ice cream licking challenge was born.

Here's the video featured on Inside Edition that started it all:

Now some stores are fighting back. In an attempt to protect ice cream from being tampered with, several stores are now taking extra security measures, such as displaying warning signs and locking the freezer doors. A few other stores went so far as to assign security guards to their freezer departments.

Over the holiday weekend, the city of Keller, Texas actually assigned two police officers to guard the freezer in the towns supermarket.

Now just in case you were wondering, licking ice cream and putting the container back is a crime and can be punishable with up to 20 years in prison.

The young woman who started this insane video challenge has been identified by police, but has not been named because she is a minor and is also facing harsh penalties.

A Louisiana man, who also did the challenge, has been caught after he posted his video on line and was charged Saturday with property tampering and posting criminal activity.

Texas based Blue Bell Creameries, the ice cream licked in most of the videos, did issue a statement to the Today Show:

The safety of our ice cream is our highest priority, and we work hard to maintain the highest level of confidence in our customers. We view the tampering of our products very seriously. Our role is to work with local retailers, and we encourage people to alert their local law enforcement if they are aware of someone tampering with any food item in the grocery store.