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askcassyfirst
01-20-2005, 09:42 AM
Hey, I am sure this has been discussed here before, but I thought I would pass on this info anyway.

For those of us who want to learn how to know if our produce is organic, conventional or genetically modified, you can use the following cheet sheet. Bearing in mind that GM is no doubt affecting ALL produce, I wouldn't be surprised if my organics are a bit tainted. However, for those that want to make an attempt to at least try, here is a bit of information to help:

PLU is the abbreviation of Price Look Up, i.e. the name of the mysterious numbers often printed on the fruit labels. It is shown like PLU-4211, #4211 or 4211 only. By reading the PLU code, you can tell if the fruit was genetically modified, organically grown or produced with chemical fertilizers, fungicides, or herbicides.

How to read a PLU code:
-For conventionally grown fruit, (grown with chemicals inputs), the PLU code on the sticker consists of four numbers.
- Organically grown fruit has a five-numeral PLU prefaced by the number 9.
- Genetically engineered (GM) fruit has a five-numeral PLU prefaced by the number 8.

Examples:
A conventionally grown banana would be:
4011
An organic banana would be:
94011
A genetically engineered (GE or GMO) banana would be:
84011


Here is a link:
http://www.etichettando.com/uk/plu/plu.htm

It was misslinda's topic that got me started in researching this again...

Cassy.

Rawkinlocs
01-20-2005, 09:48 AM
Thanks for this info! I had seen this before somewhere else a long while back, but it's good to be reminded!

golfngardennut
01-20-2005, 06:53 PM
I heard that numbers starting with "3" are also GMO.

glad_2beme
01-20-2005, 06:57 PM
well this is all news to me - thanks for the info, I will be looking at the produce NOW

SedonaSun
01-20-2005, 07:59 PM
Thanks for the info! I actually used it today even. But I think instead of the 9xxx for organic, they ought to just use a dollar sign -- $xxx -- that's more accurate, unfortunately. :eek:

askcassyfirst
01-20-2005, 08:06 PM
That was a funny joke...

Yeah, it is costly for organic. I did read on a british website, when researching this topic, that at one point factory farmers imagined that people would pay premium prices because they would WANT to buy GM food. I think that is ludicrous actually.

I was sad to notice that the cucumbers that I bought had a GM label...I knew they weren't organic, but I was depressed to know they were mutated...

Cassy. :eek: :eek: :eek: