When most of us eat fruit, we just peel the sticker off and don’t think twice about it. It’s just a natural part of consuming Mother Nature’s goodies. But how many of us knew these stickers were actually there to provide some important information about the sweet treats which lay before us?
Sydney TikToker Joshua Bollom has pointed out that these stickers are super useful in learning more about the fruit we eat. The video was part of a series he calls “something I learnt at 25”, which is filled with all kinds of useful life tips that you probably weren’t aware of before.
I for one had no idea that these stickers actually had a purpose. I just accepted them as part of life. I learnt to live with this strange little peelable friend on my fruit.
“I’m sure a lot of you eat fruit, and whenever you buy fruit you always see these little stickers on them,” said Bollom.
“These little stickers actually tell you how the fruit is grown.”
“If you look closely you should see on these stickers either a four-digit or a five-digit number.”
“These numbers mean different things. A four-digit number means it’s been grown with pesticides, a five-digit number that starts with eight usually means it’s genetically modified and a five-digit number starting with nine usually means it’s certified organic.”
So you’re telling me I could have been hand-picking fruits without pesticides this whole time? This knowledge was just free and readily available to me? I’m shooketh.
You can watch the full TikTok below:
https://www.tiktok.com/@joshuabollom/video/7084105509896228098?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7078088338762352133
Now, instead of just sinking my teeth into a gorgeous navel orange I have to do mathematics to discover how organic my fruit is. When will the math agenda cease?
As well as being identifiers that tell us information about how the product was grown, the numbers also double as PLU codes.
PLU codes are “Price Look Up” codes that retailers use to find items super fast in the system. Numbers with multiple uses? Maybe this maths thing isn’t so bad after all.
If you need me I’m gonna be hunting for every number available to me at Woolies. I wanna see if a genetical modified pear rolls down a hill faster than an organic one.
