Hey, here is something that you probably don’t know** (**see footnote). It is certainly news to me.
I stumbled across FruitandVeggieville where the latest subject is those labels on fruit. Kathleen informs us:
Fruit that was conventionally grown, meaning with chemicals, has a four digit number. Fruit that was organically grown consists of five numbers always beginning with the number 9. Other fruit that was engineered genetically have a five digit number that always begins with the number 8.
For some reason I thought the numbers merely were a convenience for the cashier, so they didn’t have to look up the stock code off of that laminated picture menu they have at the register. Now I know! It is so much more intricate. It certainly will be a way for us to navigate around the produce department just merely wondering.
What this doesn’t explain, is how I ended up with an orange awhile back that had an advertisement on its label letting me know I could buy Peter Pan on DVD. You know how important that is. Disney will put it “back into the vault” and not let us buy it ever again. Well, actually, they sell more in another couple years, but just want us to think that they are smashing the master reel so people cash in their life savings to buy them. They always bluff.
Upon furter investigation, I found the International Federation for Produce Standards Site. These people are the masterminds behind the codes. I looked up several PLU codes. More specifically, I went backwards and looked up the item. There are all sorts of varieties of both natural and hybrid fruit, vegetables, and herbs.
The big mystery for me to unlock was posed to me as I wandered through the “ethnic food” aisle of the grocery store. Occasionally I like to get Goya Pineapple or Mango Juice. One time, sort of on a dare, I tried Guanabana juice. A spiney green orb was on the can, one that appeared like it should never be eaten by anyone. It really tasted bad to me. My natural instincts did not head the warning, apparently. Anyway, according to the site, Guanabana fruit does not exist. There is no code for it! At first I thought it was just the Spanish name for something else, but it is never translater, unlike pineapple. The translation is probably “I am scarey looking, don’t eat me. I warned you!” Even little lizards and mice in the desert understand that language, unlike humans who would consider it a dare.
Try not to tax your brain too much. Four digits means “conventional/regular”, 5 digits starting with a 9 is organic, 5 digits starting with an 8 is frankenfood (sort of).
**= (A few years ago, spending a big chunk of my childhood in Wisconsin, I probably would have started this off with: Here is something that you pro’lly don’t know, hey?)
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