Learn how to read important food labels!

by Shirley Marie Bradby

November 02, 2016

Learn how to read important food labels!

Important information cannot only be found on the labels of packaged products but also on fresh food. Have you ever paid attention to what is written on the adhesive labels that are often attached to fruit and vegetables?

These labels not only serve as logos to indicate the company name but they also include numbers which provide important information in regards to the manner in which the vegetable or fruit that you have in your hands was grown.

Let's see in particular how to identify a product that was grown traditionally (using chemical fertilizers), organically or one that has been genetically modified.

On the stickers, there is what is called a Price Look-Up Code (PLU). Let's see how to read it and understand how the product was grown.

On the stickers, there is what is called a Price Look-Up Code (PLU). Let's see how to read it and understand how the product was grown.

energyfanatics.com

1. If on the sticker there are four digits then the product was cultivated in the traditional way, with the use of pesticides and fertilizers.

1. If on the sticker there are four digits then the product was cultivated in the traditional way, with the use of pesticides and fertilizers.

homegrown.org

In this case, the numbers simply indicate that the type of product we are going to buy -- for example, bananas are always identified with the code number 4011.

2. If there are five numbers on the sticker, and the first one is 8, then the product is a genetically modified organism (GMO).

2. If there are five numbers on the sticker, and the first one is 8, then the product is a genetically modified organism (GMO).

masterok.livejournal.com

For example, a genetically modified banana will be indicated by the code number 84011.

3. If there are five numbers on the sticker and the first is 9, then the product was grown organically without the use of chemical pesticides.

3. If there are five numbers on the sticker and the first is 9, then the product was grown organically without the use of chemical pesticides.

yumuniverse.com

A banana grown organically will have the code number 94011.