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.""

Comments

Metric

[CRCulver]

...1 bushel is about 9 US gallons...

It would have been friendly of the editors to provide a metric equivalent for the large percentage of their readership outside of the United States. Running GNU units on 1 bushel tells me that it is just over 35 liters.

Re:Metric

[baywulf]

You could have typed "bushels to liters" in Google and gotten the conversion in a few seconds.

Re:Metric

[Anonymous Coward]

The conversions everyone is giving are useless.
The original article never gave a measurement of the number of fruit thrown out it mearly stated "thousands of bushels", which is akin to saying "lots of fruit".

I'm hoping lots isn't a unit of some sort or some slashdotter will try and convert it :P

Re:Metric

[benna]

1 lot = 12.8 grams, but unfortunately this is a measure of mass, not volume.

Re:Metric

[Lazbien]

The metric system is the tool of the devil! (Slash the members of the Commonwealth.)

I'm more concerned about how many hogsheads to the bushel. Now that I know I can get 6.77 hogshead to the bushel, I understand.

Re:Metric

[CRCulver]

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".

Re:Metric

[Andrew Kismet]

I wish Google would do conversions for football fields and libraries of congress....

Re:Metric

[Basehart]

Best way is not to think about how many Bushells equals a Quart Etc., instead think about having peeling yet another sticker off your food before you can eat it.

How about a ripeness sticker that flips into an alternate universe where people like stickers on their fruit as soon as it senses my mouth getting near!!

Re:Metric

[NicolaiBSD]

When all that the poster mentions is that "thousands of bushels of fruit" are thrown away each year, what good is giving the bushel -> gallon or some metric unit conversion? It doesn't make the original comment any more specific. Basically he just says "lot's of".

Re: Metric

[Black Parrot]

> You could have typed "bushels to liters" in Google and gotten the conversion in a few seconds.

Or you could learn to use the archaic units we do.

You'll be amazed at the feeling of superiority you get by being backwards deliberately!

Re:Metric

[morie]

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.

Re:Metric

[Mikkeles]

'I wish Google would do conversions for football fields ....'

Is that Canadian football, U.S. football, soccer football, or Rugby football?

Re:Metric

[cayenne8]

"And then, there is India."

I believe that is Quickie-Mart English....

:-)

Fudged?

[Tablizer]

Wouldn't businesses be tempted to fudge the stickers to sell more fruit? They use red die on meat.

Re:Fudged?

[TooMuchToDo]

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).

Re:Fudged?

[ozmanjusri]

It was carbon dioxide.

Actually, they use carbon monoxide for that.

Re:Fudged?

[ozmanjusri]

The both displace O2 in tissues, so how's about half credit? =)

Nah, you gave it a good try, so you get the credit AND you get to keep the extra O2. Just don't try to make my beer froth with that CO of yours.

Thanks for the conversion

[Frogbert]

Thanks for the conversion but why would you measure fruit in gallons or bushels? Perhaps some measure of mass would be more appropriate, say Kilograms, Pounds, Tons or Tonnes.

Re:Thanks for the conversion

[techno-vampire]

Why do they measure fruit in bushels? It's simple: that's the traditional measurement in the US, and the article was written in the US for the US market.

Re:Thanks for the conversion

[0racle]

Maybe because a bushel is 'A unit of volume measure used as dry measure of grains and produce.'

Re:Thanks for the conversion

[kfg]

I'm just wondering who, way back in the days of yore, decided it would be better to measure fruit by liquid measurements and not by their mass.

The farmers who told the Mexicans they'd give 'em a dime for every basket they filled.

And buyers who came in and said "How much to fill this basket?"

A cord of wood is how much you can fit in a farm cart.

It's not a "liquid" measure. It's a farmer's dry goods measure, based on the tools they used to carry the goods.

KFG

Re:Thanks for the conversion

[jtcm]

I'm just wondering who, way back in the days of yore, decided it would be better to measure fruit by liquid measurements and not by their mass.

I doubt anyone conciously decided, it's a matter of practicality. It's also not a liquid measure; it's specified in the US as "dry measure".

The baskets they used to hold the fruit are called "bushel baskets" or just bushels. How much fruit do you have? Count the baskets. I'm not positive, but I'd bet the basket was called a bushel before the measure of volume.

Re:Thanks for the conversion

[clickety6]

why would you measure fruit in gallons

Leave those fruit out to ripen long enough and you'll get something you can easily measure in gallons... and WTFITS units...

(WTFITS = What the F. Is That Stink? basd on a scale from 1 = cheap knock-off perfumes to 100 = skunk dead from terminal halitosislying in the hot sun for three days and sprayed with cheap knock-off perfume by a passing motorist ).

Re:Thanks for the conversion

[njh]

People don't still use angular degrees do they?! I thought the world at least agreed on radians for angles. What next? Base 10 for logarithms?

Won't Work

[DumbSwede]

And this will save grocers money how?
Pay more for the stickers.
Throw out more fruit as people only choose the least ripe.

Re:Won't Work

[Marcos Eliziario]

Well... Think the other way: Even loving pineapple and mango, I never buy these fruits, because I am an incompetent bastard that never know if they are ripe enough to be eaten. After some experiences buying pineapples acid enough to make me cry, I stopped buying those fruits. So, I'd definitelly would buy more fruits if I had some way of knowing if they are already ripe.

Re:Won't Work

[RajivSLK]

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.

Re:Won't Work

[Mike_K]

Here's a trick I learned about buying a pineapple: try to pull out a leaf. If it comes out easily and at the base of the leaf, it's ripe. Otherwise, it's not.

Enjoy sweet sweet pineapples!

m

Re:Won't Work

[ozmanjusri]

And how *did* you lose the use of your nose?

Stuck a pineapple up it.

Re:Won't Work

[will_die]

Well for pineaple this sticker would not work.
Pineapple will not ripen after picked, it will start, at the base, to turn yellowish and indication that the flesh is getting softer, rotting which you want some of. While that would produce etheyle it would not get any better tasting. The pulling of the leaf test will kind of work it misses the reason behind it. You want a pineapple that is heavy for its weight, it has alot of water in it, and is still fresh so the crown is still green and the leaves have not dried out.
However the best indication for a good pineapple is to find out where it comes from, usally shown on a sticker or sign in store, and then know the temperature of that place. Since pineapple cannot be frozen or stored long time, reason you have canned ones, it has to come to the store from the fields. Pineapple picked during the colder time has more acid and less suger, thoses picked during the summer have more suger. So with you knowing the location where it was picked and if the plant is still fresh you can make a guess of when it was picked and how it will taste.

As for mangos they could use the sticker since they are best eaten when they are producing alarge amount of ethylene. However with mango you can detect that your self by smelling the fruit, if you get a strong smell it is ripe and ready to be eaten. Also mangos will ripen on the shelf, or using the old paper bag to speed up the process(larger consentration of ethylene causes them to ripen faster).

Re:Won't Work

[SCPRedMage]

You want a pineapple that is heavy for its weight

WTF?

Re:Won't Work

[Scarblac]

Actually, the result of genetical engineering (or at least, good old selective breeding). Wikipedia says:

At one time, most canned and fresh pineapples were produced on Smooth Cayenne plants. Since about 2000, the most common fresh pineapple fruit found in U.S. and European supermarkets is a low-acid hybrid that was developed in Hawaii in the early 1970s.

Look for brand names like 'Del Monte Extra Sweet Pineapple Gold' and you know you have the sweet version.

over-ripe

[$FFh]

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.

What about nearby fruit?

[brandorf]

So you have a pile of fruit, each with this sticker. If the chemical these stickers detect is a gas, how do I, the consumer, know that the sticker changed color because *this* fruit is ripe, and not the one next to it? If said fruit was tossed in a crate and shipped, would all the stickers turn?

Re:What about nearby fruit?

[wjsroot]

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.

Re:What about nearby fruit?

[profet]

I've seen this technology before. The fruit was pears and they were sold in fours in a clear plastic packaging. The packaging was square shaped with each pear sitting in a corner. The top was domed and on the inside of the packaging was the sticker. I believe the discovery channel had a piece about this last year.

Here is the video:
VIDEO

Re:What about nearby fruit?

[kfg]

The gas is actually a ripening agent. Its function is to make all the fruit in the same vicinity ripen at about the same time. Want your bananas to ripen faster? Stick 'em in a bag. The bag holds in the gas, which concentrates, quickening and syncronizing the ripening.

Stick a fruit that's a bit riper in a crate? The others will start catching up, because of the gas released by the riper fruit.

One bad apple. . .

That's why they try not to do that when they pack 'em.

KFG

Re:What about nearby fruit?

[OuroborosCobra]

Here is just a quick idea, but maybe, just maybe, the scientists who designed this thing actually know what they are doing more than we do, and have already thought of that. Just maybe all that work they did for their big degrees and Ph.D.s makes them more knowledgeable in their field than the average slashdotter.

I know, I am about to be told that "I'm new here" ;-)

I'll just...

[aniceyoungman]

...use the old-fashioned method, scratch and sniff.

Re:I'll just...

[MyNameIsFred]

I prefer a wine-tasting approach. Take a bite, swirl it around in my mouth, and spit it on the floor. Although my family does complain about the teeth marks on all our produce.

Not to be overly obvious or anything...

[zCyl]

But why not just look at the fruit itself?

What about underripe fruit

[LarsWestergren]

Interesting, in Sweden just a day ago a newspaper reported that they had tested fruits and vegetables sold in Sweden with a refractometer, and out of 120 tests on produce sold in different stores, 64 were poor and 56 average, not a single fruit or veggie were "good" or "exceptional".

The low Brix numbers measured indicate poor taste and nutrient levels, and are caused by too early harvesting, and speeding up growth with fertilizers and greenhouses (not enough time to accumulate nutrients from earth). Understandable, since this lowers risk for producers and allows them to ship long distances, for instance from New Zealand or Argentina. But consumers pay, because you need to eat more fruit and veg to get the beneficial effects, and they don't taste as well.

Note that this newspaper is very pro-trade, pro-globalization and generally rightwing.

Re:What about underripe fruit

[Threni]

> But consumers pay, because you need to eat more fruit and veg to get the beneficial effects, and
> they don't taste as well.

Sensible consumers don't pay. Not at the supermarket, anyway. Don't get me wrong - supermarkets are good at some things. But the fruit and veg sections are terrible, here in the UK as well. The produce is picked long before it's ripe, the idea presumably being that it'll ripen by the time it's purchased, but produce doesn't work that way, so what you get is a hard, tasteless pair, or an apple that's `fluffy` because the low temperatures used to prevent decay have damaged the cells of the fruit. You're better off going to your local greengrocer/market, if you can find one that doesn't only have lower quality stuff.

whatever

[Anonymous Coward]

Anybody who buys fruit regularly can tell how ripe it is by touching it. I've been making a lot of smoothies this summer and I can pretty much tell what a banana, peach, or mango will taste like with a very gentle squeeze. I'm okay with tomatoes but it seems like they vary.. sometimes they are hard but ready to eat. (My girlfriend can explain.. just kidding).

And actually, I don't see how this sticker will reduce the amount fruit the grocers have to throw out.

Re:whatever

[el_gordo101]

Pineapple - go by smell. It should have a rich pineapple smell. If it has no smell whatsoever, leave it. Pineapples do not ripen once harvested, so you can't count on that happening on your shelf at home. They will simply turn brown instead. Watermelon - These are a bit more difficult, but there is a trick to picking a good one. Look at the bottom of the melon (where it sits on the ground as it grows). The patch where it has been sitting should be a rich cream color. If it is too white, the melon is probably under-ripe. Check the outer skin, any small rotten patches indicate that the melon is going bad. To determine ripeness, knock on the outside of the melon with your knuckles. The sound it makes should be a ringing "doom" sound, like a bongo drum. If is is more of a dull "thud", the melon is probably starting to rot. Also, pick the melon up. If it feels heavy for its size, it is probably not hollowed out in the middle and full of yummy goodness. I used to be a green-grocer in a previous life, so I know a thing or two about fresh produce.

Finally something I know about!

[Sargeant Slaughter]

SO I;m probably one of the only people that visists this site that actually was a "journeyman" produce guy and have dealt with ordering and throwing out massive quatities of produce for various stores (Vons, Henrys, and Bristol Farms). Any good produce manager already knows what he's got in his cooler and how ripe it is, without some sticker to mislead him. Sometimes different fruit give off different amounts of gas at the same ripeness level depending on where it was grown, how long in it was in cold storage, etc... Since produce is in the USA is constantly coming in from all over the world, I don't think these stickers would be very reliable. Also I don't think the stickers would help much with waste because buyers over order on purpose when they can get a good deal. Buyers and district managers will push the dept managers to order more as well to get it outta the warehouse before it goes bad too. A lot of the time, (unlike other grocery items) produce sales (5 grapefruit for a dollar etc...) are based on availability of particular crops at good prices. THe buyer will order a crapload, the chain puts 'em on sale and hope that the product sells before they go bad. Cold storage can make some produce items last surprisingly long (several months sometimes) but a LOT of the time stores end up throwing out tons of the stuff, totally wasteful, but hey thats capitalism! I think the only thing these stickers would be good for would be to inform customers that don't know when their fruit is ripe. However, the afformentioned problems would still arise and it is doubtful that they would be very reliable. I think this was mentioned in the article, but don't know for sure cause I don't have time to read it - typical /. style ;-)

Re:Finally something I know about!

[Sargeant Slaughter]

Please don't wreck me for the formatting, I forgot how anal /. is... God, it's like a bunch of linux nerds run this place!

Re:Finally something I know about!

[RajivSLK]

Please don't wreck me for the formatting, I forgot how anal /. is... God, it's like a bunch of linux nerds run this place!

I know, but there is one thing I can't understand. Why do they have that preview button? A real linux nerd would never use it. Oh wait...

Re:hasnt this been around for a while?

[Judge_Fire]

"i'm sure i've seen one of these before"

They've been talked about for years, here's a mention I found about a New Zealand/Oregon- based test:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/11/26/pears.s tickers.reut/index.html

J

Already done

[onco_p53]

We have had this in New Zealand for a while now, the product is Ripe Sense invented by scientists at Hort Research New Zealand.

Pears

[sc0p3]

Had these on Pears for years. They simply drive up the price of the fruit and add to the global plastic waste problem. The pears are packaged in packs of 4 in a plastic container.

Just squeeze the pears for crying out loud.

An idea..

[metushelach]

A small modification of these stickers (e.g. amount of alcohol in blood) would make them very suitable for blind dates.

Teach your grandmother...

[OpenSourced]

Primates' brains are wonderful at determining the ripeness of fruit. They've got the color perception evolved (err, I mean designed) practically just for that. That's like using a dog to help you climb trees.

Uhhh...

[Black Parrot]

> grocers throw out thousands of bushels of fruit a year because it ripens too fast [...] RediRipe stickers turn from white to blue as fruit ripens

Looks like a solution in search of a problem, because it sure doesn't address the stated one.

a ripeness sticker?

[conn3x]

I know a few coworkers I could stick a "ripeness" sticker on...

liquid gallon vs dry gallon

[Harlow_B_Ashur]

1989 units, 71 prefixes, 32 nonlinear units

You have: bushel
You want: gallon
        * 9.3091775
        / 0.10742088
You have: bushel
You want: drygallon
        * 8
        / 0.125
You have: bushel
You want: peck
        * 4
        / 0.25
You have: bushel
You want: quart
        * 37.23671
        / 0.026855219
You have: bushel
You want: liter
        * 35.23907
        / 0.028377593

OR, you could put up pictures

[192939495969798999]

You could always put up pictures to help people with how to tell what ripe fruit of whatever variety looks/feels like. It's relatively easy with bananas, but you cant' squeeze tomatoes to tell if they're ripe. The only thing we need stickers for is mangoes, because no one in the world knows when a mango is ripe!

Next Door Rotten

[AviLazar]

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.

Re:As long as they don't use hydrogen dioxide...

[Anomylous Howard]

Yup. Hydrogen Dioxide is highly unstable at standard temperature and pressure and therefore relatively harmless. Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) is the truely deadly stuff, and it's got an extremely long half life. Check out dhmo.org

Do what now?

[Rob T Firefly]

The stickers do not change color to reflect an overripe or rotten piece of fruit.

Luckily, the fruit itself still does. Do you really need science to tell you not to eat the dark brown apples or fuzzy green oranges?

protective coating

[thegnu]

I think they could probably just coat the front of the sticker, and allow the gas to seep in through the sticky side.

Quagmire version

[Kris Warkentin]

Need one of these for girls:

"18 yet? Let me check the sticker....Giggaty giggity gig!"

Why throw it out.

[demigod]

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?