Gwen Leron: 50 Shades of Green
What Do Produce Sticker Codes Mean?
The message each code holds
by: Gwen Leron
Those little stickers you find on your fruits and vegetables, as annoying as they are, have a lot of meaning behind them. If you take a close look at them, you will notice each sticker contains a 4-5 digit numeric code called a Price Lookup (PLU) Code.
Store employees use this code in their databases to know how much to charge us when we check out, but those codes also tell us if the produce we are buying was conventionally grown or organically grown. This coding system is upheld by the International Federation for Produce Standards and it is used in Canada, the US, and many other countries. All countries exporting to Canada and the US use this system.
If the code has 4 digits - This means that your fruit or vegetable was grown conventionally. Conventionally means that it was grown on a regular farm and chemical pesticides/fertilizers were used.
If the code has 5 digits and starts with the number 9 - This means that the produce was grown organically and that no chemical based sprays or pesticides were used. If sprays/pesticides were used, they are of natural origin and are not harmful to us. In most cases, the produce was grown on a smaller farm.
If the code has 5 digits and starts with the number 8 - It's a common misconception that codes starting with the number 8 means that your produce has been genetically modified. Codes that start with the number 8 DO NOT mean that they have been genetically modified. The number 8 has been set aside as a placeholder for PLU codes IN CASE we ever move into a system that demands foods be labeled as a genetically modified organism (GMO) or not. For more info about this, read this article.
No matter what though, it's good to know what a GMO is. Food that is deemed a GMO is food that has had their genetic material altered using genetic engineering.
So why genetically alter a fruit or vegetable?
Scientists say that by doing this, they can create produce that is more nutritious, that is is drought resistant, and more. The trouble with GMO foods, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is that they have the potential to harm us and the environment and the full effects of eating them on a regular basis are not yet fully known. Preliminary results show that they can cause allergic reactions and worse. Read up on those findings here.
Click here for the 2014 Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 list.
Life - Green
produce sticker codes
gwen leron
After working for many years as a successful tech writer, Gwen decided to leave that world behind to become a stay-at-home mom to her two children. Soon after, she started paying more attention to what was in the products she brought into her home and realized that it was not all good. She stepped into action and educated herself on exactly what is safe, and what is not. Once she decided on the products she liked, she soon learned that it was no easy task to find these things in one convenient place so this was when she decided to open up an online eco-store. After all, she couldn't be the only parent out there who had this problem, right?
After six very rewarding years of being a store owner and being immersed in the "green world," Gwen made the bittersweet decision to close down her popular online shop.
Gwen uses her educational background in Journalism and Computer Programming in the first business she started where she works as a writer and web-editor/content manager. She also writes on her own blog, Delightful Adventures, AND also happens to be YummymummyClub.ca's Sponsored Content Production Manager. She's busy, right? But guess what? She loves every single thing she has her hands in and wouldn't trade what she does for anything.
Follow Gwen on Twitter: @gwenleron
Follow Gwen on Instagram: @delightfuladventures
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