Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Tattooed Fruit Is on Way
NYT ^ | 7/19/05 | Julia Moskin

Posted on 07/19/2005 7:41:45 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection

A pear is just a pear, except when it is also a laser-coded information delivery system with advanced security clearance.

And that is what pears - not to mention organic apples, waxy cucumbers and delicate peaches - are becoming in some supermarkets around the country. A new technology being used by produce distributors employs lasers to tattoo fruits and vegetables with their names, identifying numbers, countries of origin and other information that helps speed distribution. The marks are burned onto the outer layer of the skin and are visible to discerning consumers and befuddled cashiers alike.

A new laser technology for labeling fruits and vegetables, designed by Durand-Wayland, Inc., is being put to work at Southern Oregon Sales, a pear distributor in Medford, Ore.

The process, government approved and called safe by the industry, may sound sinister. But it was designed with the consumer in mind: laser coding could mean the end of those tiny stubborn stickers that have to be picked, scraped or yanked off produce.

Sticker-removal duty took Jean Lemeaux of Clarksville, Tex., half an hour one day last week....

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: news
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-72 next last

1 posted on 07/19/2005 7:41:46 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Tumbleweed_Connection

2 posted on 07/19/2005 7:42:59 AM PDT by TheOtherOne (I often sacrifice my spelling on the alter of speed™)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Big Brother is watching your fruit.


3 posted on 07/19/2005 7:44:07 AM PDT by RockinRight (Democrats - Trying to make an a$$ out of America since 1933)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tumbleweed_Connection

4 posted on 07/19/2005 7:44:20 AM PDT by Andy from Beaverton (I only vote Republican to stop the Democrats)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Revelations 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell [fruits and vegetables], save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.


5 posted on 07/19/2005 7:45:00 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TheOtherOne

Pare a pair of pears -- one tattooed and one not -- and you won't be able to tell the difference.


6 posted on 07/19/2005 7:45:07 AM PDT by southernnorthcarolina (I support tax cuts for the rich -- and I vote!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Barney Frank getting some body art, is he?


7 posted on 07/19/2005 7:45:10 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Those stickers are annoying.


8 posted on 07/19/2005 7:46:59 AM PDT by JZelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: southernnorthcarolina
"The marks are burned onto the outer layer of the skin and are visible to discerning consumers and befuddled cashiers alike."

I am quite sure I will be able to see the difference.

9 posted on 07/19/2005 7:47:52 AM PDT by TheOtherOne (I often sacrifice my spelling on the alter of speed™)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: southernnorthcarolina
Pare a pair of pears -- one tattooed and one not -- and you won't be able to tell the difference.

Who told you that, ton père?

10 posted on 07/19/2005 7:47:55 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Andy from Beaverton

big boy !!! Beat me to it


11 posted on 07/19/2005 7:48:14 AM PDT by al baby (Father of the Beeber)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido

LOL!!!!


12 posted on 07/19/2005 7:48:29 AM PDT by ConservativeMan55 (DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THE CURTAINS THEY ARE WEARING ON THEIR HEADS !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido
Pair?


13 posted on 07/19/2005 7:49:55 AM PDT by al baby (Father of the Beeber)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: al baby

A-pair-ently.


14 posted on 07/19/2005 7:55:03 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy

I believe that is a little out of context - Revelations talks of People wearing the mark of the beast in order to do commerce. What's the difference between using a laser or a sticker on the fruit/veggies - either way, they're marked.


15 posted on 07/19/2005 7:57:56 AM PDT by trebb ("I am the way... no one comes to the Father, but by me..." - Jesus in John 14:6 (RSV))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

Comment #16 Removed by Moderator

To: al baby; ConservativeMan55; southernnorthcarolina
This is quite a pair-a-docs.


17 posted on 07/19/2005 7:58:08 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Tumbleweed_Connection; oregon; abcraghead; aimhigh; Archie Bunker on steroids; bicycle thug; ...

Oregon Ping

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Oregon Ping List.

18 posted on 07/19/2005 8:00:48 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: trebb
I believe that is a little out of context

I know. I just thought it was ironic. Revelations is usually interpreted to mean that people will need a mark ( a tattoo?) in order to purchase. Now we have products with a tattoo so that they can be purchased.

I see no evil taking place.

19 posted on 07/19/2005 8:06:56 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Tumbleweed_Connection
First, they came for the pears, and I said nothing, for I am merely pear-shaped.

Then they came for the peaches, and I said nothing, for I was not a peach -- although I am a bit fuzzy and a real treat.

Then they came for me, and there were no fruits left to hurl at them.

20 posted on 07/19/2005 8:09:18 AM PDT by Lazamataz (Islam is merely Nazism without the snappy fashion sense.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-72 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson