Talking Produce?

Caveat Emptor, “Let the buyer be-aware”

Ever wonder how to de-code the information on those little stickers? They actually help you understand where the produce came from.

By reading the PLU code, you can tell if the fruit was genetically modified, organically grown or produced with chemical fertilizers, fungicides, or herbicides.

Here’s how it works:

For conventionally grown fruit, (grown with chemicals inputs), the PLU code on the sticker consists of four numbers. Organically grown fruit has a five-numeral PLU prefaced by the number 9. Genetically engineered (GM) fruit has a five-numeral PLU prefaced by the number 8. For example,

4123  –  A conventionally (chemically) grown lemon                     

91111  –  An organic grown lemon                 

84666  –  A genetically engineered 0r genetically modified organism (GE, GEO or GMO) lemon

The codes have been in use since 1990. Currently, there are over 1300 universal PLU codes assigned.

Use of PLU codes eliminates the need for grocery store checkers to identify each variety of produce visually. This advantage is especially important with the growth of the organic produce market; organic and conventional oranges, for example, may look the same but have very different prices.

The system is administered by the International Federation for Produce Standards, an affiliate of the Produce Marketing Association.