How to Read those Produce Labels

Sometimes I get an apple with a sticker on it and it just won't come off.  It's not meant to be a pest but to be informative. On the sticker may be the name of the specific type of apple (or whatever produce) you may be eating.  More importantly, what's also on there is the price look up (PLU) code.  This code is a really important tool in identifying the way that your produce was grown.  There's actually a whole site devoted to helping you decipher fruit labels.

There are really only 4 types of stickers to remember and 3 categories. Labels with:

4 digits beginning with 3 or 4 are conventionally grown, non-GMO produce.  This produce has been sprayed with weed killers and chemical pesticides but is not genetically modified

5 digits beginning with 8 means that the produce is genetically modified (boo! hiss!)

5 digits beginning with 9 means it is organic! (refer to my post on the Dirty Dozen to see what foods to prioritize in buying organic)

Here are examples of different tomatoes:

~Conventionally grown with pesticides and plant killers but not GMO	~Conventionally grown with pesticides and plant killers but not GMO
∅ Genetically modified! Don't buy it!	♥ Organic

This may be confusing but very important when you are buying produce at the supermarket!  Here's an easy little rhyme I learned to help you remember all this information:

"8, we hate.........4, is poor.........9, is mine."

Happy Shopping!