It's long been known that criminals are partial to a snack from the victim's fridge while they take a break from raiding the rest of your house.

But it seems the peckish pilferers are also enthusiastic to get back to the job they came for and are very prone to leave behind vital clues in the remains of partly eaten food.

Characteristic bite-marks left at the scene of the crime have long been used by forensic scientists to catch over-ravenously challenged criminals but these days it's commonplace for forensic scientists to use DNA analysis of saliva to trace the famished felon.

But what is the best food to leave in you larder to help police scientists in their hunt?

It seems a pair of researchers in America were eager to find out and last month presented their results at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

All in the spirit of good science, you understand, they organised a party with lots of food. Guests were asked to eat a few bites of whatever they fancied and leave the remains behind.

Actually the researches were keen to know which remains the police should pay earlier attention to because of fast degradation of the DNA, but in the process they have discovered that a burglar could eat you out of house and home on chocolate without leaving a useful DNA trace.

The best food to leave for the starving stealer would appear to be cheese, carrots, apples and pizza as these returned the most complete DNA profiles.