Depends on countries, but here (france) you'd probably be fine as long as you could argue that you'd have eaten the food if it wasn't stolen (so extra spicy is fine, slightly laxative is probably ok, rat poison is clearly not) Making a parallel with self defense since it feels quite similar. If someone breaks into your home, you're allowed to defend by almost all necessary means (because stress+dark prevents you from knowing what you'll be attacked with so fighting back with a gun against someone who ended being unarmed is fine). But if you know that the attack is coming, you have to alert the police and can't setup a dangerous ambush (well you could, but then you have to use adequate response like in classic self-defense scenarios, so no guns against an unarmed thief) without getting convicted if it succeeds. But the best part is that you know a hamburglar is going to destroy your meal in 3 seconds to satisfy its gluttony before getting caught, so even almost-acceptable levels of spicyness for humans will be totally devastating for someone who ate it all instantly.