Seeds for Change Wellness
Sticky But Useful Fruit Labels  

As much as we may dislike them, the stickers or labels attached to fruit speed up the scanning
process at checkout. Cashiers no longer need to distinguish a Fuji apple from a Gala apple, a
prickly pear from a horned melon, or a grapefruit from an ugli fruit. They simply key in the PLU
code - the price lookup number printed on the sticker - and the market's computerized cash
register identifies the fruit by its PLU.

The numbers also enable retailers to track how well individual varieties are selling.
For conventionally grown fruit, 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 fruit has a
five-numeral PLU prefaced by the number 8.

So, a conventionally grown banana would be 4011, an organic banana would
be 94011, and a genetically engineered banana would be 84011.
The numeric system was developed by the Produce Electronic Identification Board, an affiliate of
the Produce Marketing Association, a Newark, Del.-based trade group for the produce industry.
As of October 2001, the board had assigned more than 1,200 PLUs for individual produce items.