The Hidden Codes Behind Your Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

The Secret Code on Your Produce: What the Numbers Mean

When you grab an apple and prepare to bite into it, you’ve probably noticed a little sticker attached to the fruit with a row of four or five numbers on it. This string of digits is called a PLU (Price Look-Up) code, and its function is simple: to help supermarkets identify their inventory of fruits and vegetables.

What Do PLU Codes Tell Us?

PLU codes are assigned to particular types of fruit and vegetables by the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS), a global organization that ensures the supply chain for the fresh produce industry works efficiently. These codes indicate the commodity, variety, and growing method (conventional or organic) at the point of sale, enabling retailers to charge the correct price for the product.

According to Ed Treacy, vice president of supply chain and sustainability for the Produce Marketing Association, PLU numbers can be used in two different ways: manually entered into the cash register or scanned via a databar barcode. This system was developed by a PMA volunteer committee back in 1988 to enable supermarkets to tell the difference between conventionally grown fruits and vegetables and higher-priced organic food.

How Do PLU Codes Work?

The industry came up with a system where conventionally grown produce items are assigned four-digit numbers in the 3000 and 4000 range. If a fruit or vegetable is raised organically, it gets a prefix of 9 placed in front of the usual code for that item. The codes “are not intended to convey information to consumers,” says the PMA. “They are simply business tools for accurate price rings at the cash register, inventory control, and category management.”

The Future of Fruit and Vegetable Stickers

There are now over 1,500 different PLUs in use around the globe. If you want to know what a particular one means, IFPS offers a web-based PLU search app. Just type in the code from a sticker on a piece of fruit, and it will tell you that 3114, for example, signifies an extra-large green mango.

The produce industry has been trying to develop biodegradable PLU stickers, but it’s difficult to find an adhesive that’s sticky enough to stay on a piece of fruit through the entire food chain and then dissolve afterward. Eventually, PLU stickers may be replaced altogether by lasers that etch the codes into fruits and vegetables.

Removing Produce Stickers for Composting

If you separate your food waste to go to a composting facility, it’s essential to remove the stickers before throwing banana peels or other discarded parts of fruit. The stickers can contaminate the process. France is actually imposing a ban on identifying stickers on produce in 2022 for this reason.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates the chemicals and materials used in any sort of label attached to food, ensuring they don’t pose a safety risk. Even so, you don’t want to eat them since they have no flavor or nutritional value.