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Ripeness Sticker Coming to Supermarket Fruit

Adam Weiss writes "A biosystems engineering professor has just announced a "ripeness sticker" for fruit. According to this AP article, grocers throw out thousands of bushels of fruit a year because it ripens too fast (1 bushel is about 9 U.S. gallons). Mark Riley's RediRipe stickers turn from white to blue as fruit ripens. The stickers react with ethylene gas, a chemical which is released as fruit or vegetables ripen. However the article says "there are still bugs to be worked out: The stickers do not change color to reflect an overripe or rotten piece of fruit. Also, not all fruit produces enough ethylene to be detected by the sticker.""

8 of 321 comments (clear)

  1. over-ripe by $FFh · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why not use two stickers, or two halves of one sticker, that react at different rates?

    One half would indicate ripeness, the other over-ripeness.

  2. Re:Fudged? by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Actually, it wasn't red dye. It was carbon dioxide. It causes the meat to stay red longer (instead of the gray it turns at it spoils).

  3. Re:What about nearby fruit? by wjsroot · · Score: 4, Interesting

    maybe the sticker has the reative material on the underside and the color chaning material on above? two reactions?
    I'm not a chemical engineer but that sounds rather complex compaired with just picking up the food, looking at it, feeling if its firm, etc.

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  4. Re:Metric by CRCulver · · Score: 2, Interesting

    These Europeans--I mean those living on the continent-- who use the metric system are also, for better or worse, overwhelmingly learning American English now. In fact, in two of the countries in Eastern Europe I've resided in (Ukraine and Romania), I've heard British English, its orthography, lexicon, and Received Pronunciation, referred to as outright passe, and would only harm students, since what they need in the global economy is American English, i.e. it's orthography, lexicon, and General American pronunciation. So many European speakers of English now would have it "liters", not "litres".

  5. Re:Won't Work by RajivSLK · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You should try pineapples again. I've noticed that the qaulity has drastically improved in the last three or four years. Probably the result of improved logistics and shipping.

  6. Re:Metric by morie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Funny you mention those countries. In The Netherlands and Belgium, American English is most spoken. Interestingly, these countries subtitle television and movies rather than dubbing it in their own language, so the people are exposed to a lot of (sitcom/movie/Oprah/...) american english at home, whereas France and Germany dub most of their TV and movies.

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  7. Next Door Rotten by AviLazar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If this is a sticker then it operates based on touch. What happens if Apple A which has a sticker has the sticker touching Apple B. If Apple B is rotten, wouldn't it set off Apple A? It's working on a gas emission.

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  8. Why throw it out. by demigod · · Score: 2, Interesting

    According to this AP article, grocers throw out thousands of bushels of fruit a year because it ripens too fast

    Why throw it out?

    Why not ferment it and turn it ethanol to use a fuel?

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