Fruit Tattoos: Laser produce coding

[Chad]

Durand-Wayland, a company that makes fruit packing & handling equipment, announded that they have developed a laser system to imprint product codes on fruits and vegetables.

The patented application of laser technology facilitates printing on produce with precise control without damaging the product. This precise control light removes the pigment from the surface of the produce to reveal a contrasting sub-layer.  The system can print virtually any information: Product Look-up Code, Country of Origin, traceability, etc. This process never has contact with the produce and is

earth-friendly using no consumables to label the produce.

It looks a little weird, but if we can get rid of those damn stickers, I'm all for it.

Go to the Durand-Wayland website to see pictures of lemons, onions, nectarines and other fashionable produce sporting their new tattoos.

Wave of the future?

Chad

[Rachel Perlow]

Very cool. I hate those little stickers. However, I cannot imagine that the contrasting layer of pigment on a lemon would be red???

[Gifted Gourmet]

Even more interesting to me personally, I think anyone stamping words onto a fruit ought to be able to spell correctly ....

Upon reading the text of the "ad", I found myself laughing aloud about this ...

Still looks like a vast untapped market for this new concept ...

[Pickles]

This should be helpful in teaching some of the produce-identification-challenged checkout kids what produce is what. Just an example..not that they might tattoo these items...but I am sick of getting getting charged for leeks when I am buying green onions. And sick of being charged for vidalia's when I am buying regular yellows. One of them waved my cabbage in front of me and asked me what it was. I bought a piece of ginger and the kid didn't know what it was and didn't have a code, so he charged me for a roll! Not having to peel away those stickers from tomatoes in particular would be great though.

Edited April 16, 2004 by Pickles (log)

[Jason Perlow]

That's pretty cool, in a THX 1138 or a Orwellian/Huxleyian sorta way.

[Al_Dente]

This should be helpful in teaching some of the produce-identification-challenged checkout kids what produce is what. Just an example..not that they might tattoo these items...but I am sick of getting getting charged for leeks when I am buying green onions. And sick of being charged for vidalia's when I am buying regular yellows. One of them waved my cabbage in front of me and asked me what it was. I bought a piece of ginger and the kid didn't know what it was and didn't have a code, so he charged me for a roll! Not having to peel away those stickers from tomatoes in particular would be great though.

The flip side is good though. I recently bought fresh morels and porcinis at $2.99/lb!!!!!

[Jason Perlow]

The flip side is good though. I recently bought fresh morels and porcinis at $2.99/lb!!!!!   

Where?

[Al_Dente]

The flip side is good though. I recently bought fresh morels and porcinis at $2.99/lb!!!!!   

Where?

Wegmans in Sterling VA. I bought a large variety of mushrooms and the cashier rang them all up as button mushrooms. Unfortunately I bought small amounts of the most expensive ones.

I SWEAR I didn't notice until I read the receipt at home. By then I was 30 miles away.

[alacarte]

how will they deal with darker-colored produce like red apples? won't it be hard to read the inked bar code, or will white ink be used?

[Bicycle Lee]

I thought this thread was going to be about those fruit rollups with the tongue tattoos....

but...uhh....yeah get rid of the stickers!

[Pickles]

This should be helpful in teaching some of the produce-identification-challenged checkout kids what produce is what.  Just an example..not that they might tattoo these items...but  I am sick of getting getting charged for leeks when I am buying green onions.  And sick of being charged for vidalia's when I am buying regular yellows.  One of them waved my cabbage in front of me and asked me what it was.  I bought a piece of ginger and the kid didn't know what it was and didn't have a code, so he charged me for a roll!      Not having to peel away those stickers from tomatoes in particular would be great though.

The flip side is good though. I recently bought fresh morels and porcinis at $2.99/lb!!!!!

I wonder if that would be a good topic for another thread. The morality of leaving the market with a good sized chunk o' of radicchio...having just been charged for red cabbage! Happened to me just last week. Didn't realize it until I'd gotten it home and in the salad..of course...

[Bux]

Durand-Wayland, a company that makes fruit packing & handling equipment, announded that they have developed a laser system to imprint product codes on fruits and vegetables.

The patented application of laser technology facilitates printing on produce with precise control without damaging the product. This precise control light removes the pigment from the surface of the produce to reveal a contrasting sub-layer.  The system can print virtually any information: Product Look-up Code, Country of Origin, traceability, etc. This process never has contact with the produce and is earth-friendly using no consumables to label the produce.

It looks a little weird, but if we can get rid of those damn stickers, I'm all for it.

Go to the Durand-Wayland website to see pictures of lemons, onions, nectarines and other fashionable produce sporting their new tattoos.

Very cool. I hate those little stickers. However, I cannot imagine that the contrasting layer of pigment on a lemon would be red???

how will they deal with darker-colored produce like red apples? won't it be hard to read the inked bar code, or will white ink be used?

You guys are talking in circles and losing me. According to the first two posts there is no ink, which makes it all the more astonishing that some lemons with the same PLU# have red sub-layers while others have green. The web site seems to be closed for repairs in terms of accessing other pages right now, but it appears that the surface is removed and that in the case of those fruits and vegetables where there is not enough contrast, a dye is rubbed on the surface and absorbed where the rind has been removed. The process is "green" only up to a point.

[Jason Perlow]

Apparently, in some cases they DO use a type of biodegradable pigment -- Rachel spoke to one of the engineers this morning, hopefully we can get them on eGullet to elaborate on it further.

[FistFullaRoux]

And I learned something else interesting from that site.

Evidently, you can't put a sticker on a cucumber. I did not know that. That will be used at my next opportunity to regale someone with my awe-inspiring knowlege of trivia...

[lala]

I wonder if that's because cucumbers are often waxed, and thus, too slippery? I know that on a bad day, they can squirt out of my hands before I get them to the sink for a good scrubbing! I solve this by buying the English cukes when I can afford 'em.

I find the stickers annoying, but I'm also leery of ink being imbedded in my food. You can cut around it on citrus/banana peel, but what to do about that ink infested apple/peach/pepper?

[Natural Light Labeling]

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

[clothier]

Very cool idea.

How did you come up with it?

[Pan]

I really appreciate your post, Greg. Most informative.

[Chad]

Howdy, Greg, thanks for coming to eGullet to explain the process to us. As you might have noticed, we're a pretty rabid bunch when it comes to food and food issues.

I noticed the photo of the onion on your website. Is there a problem with the papery skin coming off and smudging/obliterating the laser coding?

Take care,

Chad

[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

[FistFullaRoux]

That's all fine and wonderful, but that tattooed produce is going to feel mighty silly when they get old and wrinkled....

Same thing my mom told me, at least. Personally, I think it's a great idea. You come up with a solution for tracking green onions, and you'll be my hero.

[Mabelline]

WOW...perhaps you'll be able to translate it to meats...then there'd be no question of its source? That could only be good news for the conscientious producer!

[mudbug]

Pickels,

We try to always watch the prices as they are scanned, being aware of how much they're supposed to be. That way, if something goes thru and is rung up incorrectly, we can tell them right away and they can easily correct it. If a particular item is consistently incorrect, a friendly comment to the manager may greatly be appreciated.

If for some reason we're talking to someone at the time, we'll quickly glance at the receipt as we're leaving to make sure everything was correct.

Just being aware while you're standing there in front of them anyway will prevent your irritations of being overcharged for something you didn't buy.

As for young people not knowing what every item is, we're all human and we all learn different things at different times in our lives. If they don't know what something is, we'll inform them and also volunteer some information on how they're cooked or what they're good with. Who knows, you may encourage them to try it, or at least they'll have the opportunity to pick up some reference of what it is if they care to retain the info.

;)

Natural Light Labeling,

Thank you for your elaborations. Looking forward to seeing this system progress.

:)

Edited April 18, 2004 by mudbug (log)

[WHT]

Some of the eggs I have been getting lately have had information printed on the shell. The plant they came from and date produced printed in dot matrix in red. Keeps you from guessing what eggs are older.

[jgm]

There are rare instances when one presents the whole fruit, such as with baked apples, or with a sorbet served in a hollowed-out citrus fruit. I don't see this new system doing good things for that... but otherwise, sounds like a good idea.