Decoding PLU Numbers

Here’s a very interesting bit of information from our friends at Serious Eats about the numbers they put on those little stickers on items from the produce department…

Conventional produce gets a four-digit number.
Organic produce gets a five-digit number that starts with 9.
Genetically modified items also get a five-digit code, but that code starts with 8.

Examples
4139: Conventional Granny Smith apple
94139: Organic Granny Smith
84139: GMO Granny Smith