Know the meaning of PLU codes for your health

The mystery is over: Those numbers on your fruit stickers are known as PLU codes.

Think the PLU codes on your fruit only hold the price for your oranges or bananas? It may not be the case if you know how to read the codes. They may hold more information about your purchase, especially if you're interested in purchasing only organic food for your household.

All codes contain a four-digit base code, and these are the same for a particular type of fruit regardless of country of origin, according to a 2014 report on the food blog Don't Waste the Crumbs. However, you will find variations of the codes in the same category of food depending on the varieties. For example, a Gala apple will have a different code from a Pink Lady apple.

One of the more interesting aspects of the code falls before the base four-digit code. This signals details about how the producers grew the fruit:
 
— Conventionally grown fruit begin with a 3 or 4 prior to the base code 
— Those organically grown add a 9 at the beginning, while a genetically modified fruit starts with the number 8  

However, relying on the PLU code alone may not always be a sure bet due to a lack of government requirements.

"I think the most important thing to know about PLUs is that they're optional," Rebecca Spector, West Coast director of the Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit consumer and environmental advocacy group, told the Statesman Journal in 2015. "So they're not required by the USDA or any federal agency."

Still, if you seek to shop for only organic produce, most producers willingly state this. Look for the 9 at the beginning of the PLU for a quicker identification of your organically grown fruit when exploring your local store aisle.

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