HFA considered posting one of those produce 5-digit PLU code guides that reportedly told shoppers whether a food was a GMO or not. Trouble is, have you ever seen the beginning “8,” the supposed GM red flag? This article explains why.
Jeffrey Smith has checked main sources for these PLU codes and doesn’t want consumers to waste any more time squinting at veggie stickers. PLU codes were never meant to communicate to shoppers, but to retailers for other purposes like inventory. A beginning 9, will label organic produce, but the GM 8 never really circulated. It’s not surprising since most informed buyers would avoid them. Seed companies hide the GM seed origins from planters.
There are buyer’s guide links towards the end, and Health Freedoms will bring more news about how to live GM free and take action, in response to many of our readers’ concerns.
~Health Freedoms
Let’s put a rumor to rest. No, the 5-digit PLU codes on produce do not tell you what is genetically modified or natural. This urban legend has circulated long enough, even on the best of websites. It’s time to take it down.
The 4-digit PLU codes on the sometimes-pain-in-the-neck labels glued to apples, for example, tell the checkout lady which is a small Fuji (4129) and which is a Honeycrisp (3283). She’ll know what to charge you and the inventory elves will know what’s what. If there’s a 5-digit code starting with 9, then it’s organic.
These numbers, organized by the Produce Marketing Association, have nothing to do with you. According to Kathy Means, Association Vice President of Public Relations and Government Affairs, this is an optional convention for retailers and their supplier and is not designed as a communication tool for customers. If you want to know which items are organic, look for the word Organic; and stop squinting at tiny codes.
GMO codes are hypothetical
Those that run PLU-universe figured that someday some retailer might want to distinguish between a GMO and a non-GMO for price or inventory purposes. So they created a convention of 5 digits starting with an 8, just in case it catches on. But it hasn’t. No one uses that number 8 as far as we can tell. And why would they? Most Americans say they would avoid GMOs if they were labeled.
Some seed companies don’t even want gardeners to know which seed is genetically modified. One company that sells zucchini seeds outfitted with virus genes announced that they would refuse to sell seed packets in Vermont, since the state legislature requires GM seeds to be labeled.
Shopping Guide helps you avoid GMOs
Where does that leave you—if you happen to be one of those finicky eaters who values your immune and reproductive systems, and don’t want your kids to end up with the organ damage common among GMO-fed lab animals? Fortunately, we’ve got you covered. Go to www.NonGMOShoppingGuide.com and peruse the long lists of non-GMO and GMO brands by category. Download a two-page version, order the pocket guide, or even equip your iPhone with the new app “ShopNoGMO”.
Although a list of non-GMO brands won’t help you figure out if your produce is genetically modified, the great news is that there are only 4 GMO veggies or fruits at this point: papaya, but only from Hawaii and no where else; some zucchini and yellow squash, and some corn on the cob. For these, unless it says organic or boasts a non-GMO sign in the store, eating them is a gamble. It could be GMO.
If you’re not sure if GMOs are bad for you, we’ve got you covered there too. Visit www.HealthierEating.org, and read, listen, or watch, and find out why more and more doctors and medical organizations are prescribing non-GMO diets to all patients.
Jeffrey Smith The world’s leading consumer advocate promoting healthier, non-GMO choices
Source:
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/blog/24
3,561,596 members
12,429,752 petition signatures
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HFA considered posting one of those produce 5-digit PLU code guides that reportedly told shoppers whether a food was a GMO or not. Trouble is, have you ever seen the beginning “8,” the supposed GM red flag? This article explains why.
what about soy, wheat, white potatoes?
Mary – this is a good question. I like to know about it, too. Anyone who has the facts??
Mary & Heinz – we plan on doing a GMO series to help equip everyone with the necessary info – asap!
Mary makes a good point, this article addresses produce, but there are undoubtedly more GM foods than the ones in the article. More info soon!
Okay, Lois Rain. Get off your high horse. You’re overstating the point just a bit.
While it’s true that I have not seen any 5 digit numbers starting with 8 on any produce lately, I was seeing it from time to time as late as 3 years ago. I distinctly remember picking up a beautiful yellow bell pepper in our local Safeway store and almost putting it in my cart until I saw the 5 digit number beginning with 8 stuck to the side of it. I decided I could do without a yellow bell pepper.
My point being, while this labeling may have fallen out of practice do to public awareness and market response, it wasn’t an “urban legend”, at least not in our part of the country. And I was never led to believe that the codes were used for the purpose of informing the public. It’s just that the public was being made privy to information they might not otherwise have known about. Obviously, they responded with their wallets and so that information is now no longer deemed useful to retailers; at least not in that format.
A simple notice of that change would’ve sufficed without the need to make others feel like fools.
I’m glad that you were able to use the 8 to avoid a GMO. I guess I got carried away with what was supposed to be writer’s flair. Never intended to make anyone feel like a fool.
Just trying reemphasize that the “8″ practice was optional so it’s rare, and not a guarantee that a missing 8 indicates non-GMO.
Why do residents of the USA have to be prevented by law from knowing that any food contains GMO products. In the European Union all foods containing GMO’s have to be labelled as such. In Europe the consumer gets a choice; in the USA Monsanto and its Ilk have lobbied the legislature to enable them to poison the population!
Thank you Tim!
I’m glad some one finally said something about that!
Tim, you answered your own question. The USA is in name a democracy but in practice it is fascism, meaning (as Musollini defined it) it is more rightly called “corporatism”. Corporations are effectively controlling US government regulations according to their wishes, not the common people. This is because the level of consumer knowledge and activism is relatively low already. Whether it is because they’ve been eating the stuff for so long that it has damaged their thinking processes, or whether the consumerism is so strong they just have an overload of stimuli, or something else, I’m not sure.
Also, Europe had a big break by having the whole issue blow up in the media before the heavy hand of corporate interests could stop it. That tipped the scales on the whole issue there, but there are cracks in the wall against GMO in Europe.