Failure to pay someone money they are owed resulting in jail time only sounds good when you imagine employers being carted off for not paying employees what they're owed.
It's not so fun when you consider a mother of 2 carted off for missing a car payment.
That wouldn't be practical for most things, especially disposables or perishables like food. It'd be best simply to fine the owner or garnish their bank account. The IRS should enforce wage theft cases since they're the ones with the power to do that.
Yes, also what will happen if you walk out the store with 100€ of groceries depend mostly on how you react.
The thing, is, its not because they're poor that they are going to steal. Homeless people steal a pack of pasta and a water bottle, not a month worth of food.
It does happen, though if someone walk out with 100€ there is more chance he is walking out with a tv than pasta, be an asshole and be belligerant.
In the end the difference goes back to surveillance, it is very easy to prove you are walking out of the store with 100€ of things, there much less surveillance that would even be legal today to see they are paying you correctly. Don't be fooled by the politicians who say "let's just bails every robbers and shoplifter cause bosses withold pays" because this is a zero investment solution. For the politician its just writing, no need to rework the system that is causing the issue or deploy law enforcement. This is literally politics without action, which is indeed nonsensical