For the watchful consumer, reading labels on their food items is simply an act of habit. While the containers of most food items tell you exactly what you’re about to purchase, when it comes to fruits, we’re often left puzzled; all these fruits seem to have is a little sticker containing numbers. 

Fortunately these numerical stickers give consumers useful insight and can tell them if the fruit has been genetically modified. The sticker explains whether the fruit was grown organically or using traditional methods. These stickers containing 4 to 5 digit numbers were first introduced by supermarkets in the early nineties as a method to identify bulk produce and to make inventory control easier. Known as the Price Look Up (PLU) code, they identify produce items based on various attributes including the commodity, variety and growing methodology. The codes are assigned by the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS), which comprises produce associations across the world. However this coding system is voluntary and has not been made mandatory by any governing body.