Swap Saturday

Read a sticker

What the number on your fruit means

The number is a PLU code, short for price look-up. Cashiers and self-checkouts key it in when fruit is weighed or counted. Codes have been in use since 1990, and over 1,400 have been assigned.

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The ranges

Where a code sits says what it is

  1. 3000 to 4999Conventional produce. Four digits, assigned at random, one code per kind and size.
  2. 9 + four digitsOrganic. The same code with a 9 in front: 4011 becomes 94011.
  3. 83000 to 84999Meant for GMO produce. Growers declined to use it, so it was opened for general use.
  4. 3170 to 3269Set aside for retailers to assign to anything they sell.
  5. 4193 to 4217Also for retailers, but only for apples.

The rest of the sticker

Brand, code, barcode

  • The brand and the art are the grower's or packer's own, which is why one code comes in hundreds of designs.
  • The code is the same everywhere the federation's list is used. The International Federation for Produce Standards has run it since 2001.
  • The barcode, if there is one, is a GS1 DataBar Stacked Omnidirectional, allowed on PLU stickers since 2006.
  • The material is usually plastic film or paper. Cardboard, metallized film, wrapping tissue and textiles turn up too.

Before the peel goes in the bin

Most PLU stickers are not biodegradable, and compost sites can turn away produce that still carries them. Take the sticker off first. If it's one you haven't seen, keep it on a piece of baking paper and bring it along.

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