Over 100 shops in the coastal town of Cumana were hit and at least one person died according to local media.
Venezuela has one of the world's highest inflation rates at 180% and people can queue for hours for subsidised food.
Opposition politicians blame government mismanagement for the shortages.
But the government says the shortages are part of an economic war being waged to drive President Nicolas Maduro from office.
Most of the shops were looted for food according to opposition congresswoman Milagros Paz.
She is quoted in Venezuelan newspaper El Universal as saying that the authorities "have not admitted the food distribution emergency".
But according to the socialist governor of Sucre state, Luis Acuna, it was off licenses, opticians and clothes shops that were targeted in the looting, reports El Nacional.
Food and medicine are in short supply and street protests have become increasingly agitated.
More than 10 attempts of looting happen every day, according to the non-governmental organisation Venezuelan Violence Observatory.
Diosdado Cabello, a lawmaker from Mr Maduro's PSUV party, blamed the opposition for inciting violent protest.
"These are fascist groups which are generating unrest," he said.
"Don't come to me with this fairy tale that these are spontaneous protests," he said on his television programme.

Murray, 25, who has already secured Rio Olympic qualification, was down in 21st after the fencing round.
Strong swimming and run-shoot combined events helped her climb to ninth and reach Sunday's final in Bath.
She is joined by Great Britain team-mates Kate French, Freyja Prentice and Francesca Summers.
Britain will claim the maximum of two Olympic berths for the women's event if any of the GB athletes - other than Murray - can finish in the top eight in Sunday's final at the University of Bath.
"I sometimes struggle to find that spark and have the same adrenalin that I do in the final during qualification," said Murray, who was fourth in the women's team event alongside Mhairi Spence on Wednesday.
"Hopefully I can step things up at the weekend," she added.
World junior champion Summers, who won Youth Olympic silver in 2014, secured the last automatic qualification place in the first of the combined heats.
"I took lots of confidence from winning world junior gold in Mexico," she told BBC Sport.
"It's a big step-up in standard, but the target was to reach the final and I'm so happy I've done that."
On Saturday Jamie Cooke, Tom Toolis and Joe Choong will compete in the men's final knowing a top-eight finish will attain them a Rio Olympic qualification.

Demand for its drinks in Europe weakened, and a strong dollar ate into revenue from other markets outside the US, including Latin America.
The company reported a 4% decline in profits to $1.89bn in the first quarter from $1.98bn in 2015.
However, global sales volumes rose 2% in the first quarter.
Its performance was helped by brands including Fanta and strength in still drinks such as bottled water and sports drinks.
But the world's biggest drinks maker said that sales volume for drinks like Diet Coke and Cherry Coke declined in North America, Europe and the Middle East and Africa.
"Our operating results are driven by our commitment to sustainable growth, and we are confident that we have the right strategies in place to achieve our full-year outlook and drive long-term value for our system and shareowners," said chief executive officer Muhtar Kent.
Coke's sales in Europe, its third biggest market, declined 1% in the quarter ended 1 April, while Latin America sales plunged 12.2%.
Sales in Asia Pacific, including China, dropped 4%, but volumes increased after the company sharply cut prices.
In Asia, pricing is expected to be a "little volatile and bumpy" in the coming quarters chief operating officer James Quincey said.
Coke is banking on new marketing initiatives, such as the "One Brand" programme rolled out on Wednesday, to boost sales.
All cans and bottles of Coca-Cola branded drinks will have a similar appearance, prominently featuring the red colour associated with regular Coke, but with a band of the colour for brands Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Coke Life.
At least 400 people have been arrested in Venezuela after rioting and looting over food shortages.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Olympic silver medallist Samantha Murray recovered from a difficult start to remain on course for a first individual European pentathlon title.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Shares in fizzy drinks giant Coca-Cola have fallen more than 4% after the firm reported a fall in profits.