Score one for Facebook… I would not have known this had it not come thru my FB feed.
Did you know GMO produce is identified right on the product sticker? Me neither. Evidently any five-digit PLU code that begins with the number “8″ is genetically engineered.
Follow that link above & select the “genetically engineered” question from the drop-down for a point-blank explanation.
Sadly, this isn’t true.
http://tinyurl.com/ya8g4mw
I’m glad to see you posting again however!!
Margaret, the link you provided does not directly speak to this issue. It simply says that a 5-digit code beginning with 9 is organic. Then it talks about different 4-digit codes indicating what type of product it is. The website you linked does not debunk this link at all.
The article does speak to the issue, but it wasn’t clear enough; the prefixes “8″ and “9″ are optional. They can be used, if the producer or retailer wishes, to mark the produce as Organic or GMO.
Since people LIKE organic, organic producers use the 9. Since consumers don’t like GMO, the GMO producers generally DON’T use the 8. If you or anyone you know has ever seen a 5 digit number starting with 8, I’ll be surprised.
The website Paula linked looks pretty official, but I think it’s deliberately deceitful. My guess would be, that it’s part of a disinformation campaign to convince people we don’t need GMO labeling and that they can already buy produce that is properly labelled.
The best way to get organic food is to grow it. :-)
MYTH: http://gmoawareness.org/2012/09/19/myth-plu-code-prefix-8-for-gmo/
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(Ed. note: yes I know this comment looks like spam, and perhaps it is? But I’m letting it thru because the commenter’s site appears to be a sincere effort with potentially useful information.)