Natural Light Labeling

I'm sorry for the length of time it has taken me to respond, as I'm on the road and it's difficult at times to get to the web. I would like to quickly address a few questions, and again I'm sorry that it has to be quickly! First, I'm sorry for the spelling error on our website, it seems our web master over looked it, and I will get that taken care of. Sencondly, the color enhancement again is all natural water food coloring and it is just for the lemons and grapefruit. As far as the darker colors, it's no problem red apples etc., show up very well. I will NOT do bar codes simply for the fact that all the consumer focus groups and retailers hate the idea of them on a natural product...and yes it looks tooooo Orwellion(spelling?)! I came up with this idea after attending a seminar on the topic of Produce packing. Why I was there is a long story--needless to say the stickers are a very painful part of the packing process which no one likes. From growers to packers to the retailer then to us, the consumer everyone hates the stickers and at this seminar they were discussing this. I came up with a few ideas and then went to work. I hold a few degrees in engineering and a Masters in Particle Physics, which helps a lot! I will keep in touch and I appreciate everyone's comments. My main goal for the technology is for it to be an alternative to the adhesive labels, I will not claim it to be an 'end-all-be-all' for the market, but definitly an alternative which there has never been up until now! Thanks, Greg Drouillard

Hello Everyone, My name is Greg Drouillard and I work for Durand-Wayland. I invented the Produce Laser coding system and was asked by Rachel to join your forum to give an overview of the system. This system uses light to etch the message onto the surface of the produce without penetrating the 'skin' or bruising the product and is completely natural and edible because nothing is added only removed. It is an alternative to the adhesive label. This process is all natural in which light is used to remove the pigment from the surface of the produce to reveal the contrasting sub-layer below. This system does not use any consumables (adhesive labels) and because of this, the system has no contact with the produce. Research studies conducted by the University of Florida et al, have shown there is no decay or reduce shelf life problems. The thickness of the 'skin' on produce ranges between 18 to 110micrometers. The system is designed to remove the pigment which lies in the upper epidermis or 1/10th of the thickness of the 'skin'. Sunkist is also using the system, as you might have seen from pictures on our website showing a lemon. The reason the lemon has color is to enhance the contrast. The enhancement is all natural food coloring, and of course FDA approved. It is the same stuff in cakes, chips...all foods, but in at a very low amount, (only 10Pico liters, a tenth of a drop is used to do this on each lemon!) Of course it is completely edible and it does not rub off because it replaces the pigment that was removed. The time it takes the process to do this is 10milliseconds! The only fruit this is done to is Lemons and Grapefruit. There are many benefits in using this system and the biggest are; all natural and edible, nothing added, no consumables, no stickers to deal with, non-contact, and because the system is computer driven it is designed to print in any language along with the ability to apply traceability so that if there is a problem with the produce it could be traced back. Traceability functions are: Time and Date, batch coding, lot coding, country of origin...etc. I have much more to say but I must be going. I will be out in California with Sunkist for the next week but will follow the thread the best I can. I will also answer any questions you may have. Thank you very much, Greg Drouillard