BigShinyThing

The technology will enable produce distributors to tattoo fruit and veg with their names, identifying numbers, country of origin and other information to help speed distribution. It also forms part of the produce industry’s efforts to track and identify all the food that goes into American shopping baskets.

Since 9/11, the industry has been encouraged to develop ‘track and trace’ technology to allow protection of the food supply at various stages of distribution. Next year, federal regulations will require all imported produce to be labeled with the country of origin. Wal-Mart already requires all pallets delivered to its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., to be fitted with radio frequency identification tags, so that they can be tracked by satellite.

In 2002, Durand-Wayland, a fruit grower and distributor based in Georgia, bought the patent for a process that etches the price look-up number and any other information the retailer or customer might want to know directly onto the fruit of the skin. Greg Drouillard, who originally patented laser coding for produce and who now works for Durand-Wayland, said the process permanently tattoos each piece of fruit, removing only the outer pigment to reveal a contrasting layer underneath and make the tattoo readable, even scanable.

According to Fred Durand III, president of Durand-Wayland, “With the right scanning technology, the produce could even be bar-coded with lots of information: where it comes from, who grew it, who picked it, even how many calories it has per serving … You could have a green pepper that was completely covered with coding. Or you could sell advertising space.”

If you find the idea of your vegetables looking like something out of The Matrix alarming, consider this: consumers in Japan are already using their mobile phones to scan barcodes giving them all the information they need about the food they buy, including its origins and the pesticides used. See previous post, ‘Check the Label’.

Courtesy of Gawker.