Produce PLU Codes Reveal If It’s Organic, Transgenic or Conventional

Healthy Child Healthy World
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 16, 2008

What the Price Look Up code can tell you quickly without having to rely on the cashier in a produce market.

At the checkout counter, supermarket cashiers now rely on PLU (Price Look Up) codes to identify fruits and vegetables quickly, which ensures that the price is entered correctly. That way, you won’t have to rely on the cashier for knowing the difference, both in look and price, between a Fuji apple and a Gala.

But the PLU of a fruit or vegetable can also provide information to consumers—whether it was genetically engineered, grown by organic methods or grown by conventional methods.

What to Look For

Each type of fruit or vegetable carries the PLU:

• on stickers on individual fruits and vegetables, like apples and winter squash,
• on tags used to hold together bunches of lettuce, broccoli and other similar loose vegetables,
• or on bags of produce such as potatoes or onions.
  
  PLUs consist of 4 to 5 numbers.

• 4 numbers = conventional produce
• 5 numbers, starting with 9 = organic produce
• 5 numbers, starting with 8 = genetically engineered produce
  
  For more information, see : 
International Federation for Produce Coding

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