Top UK Supermarket Laser Prints Labels On Avocados To Reduce Waste (telegraph.co.uk)

One of the largest British retailers in London, M&S, is opting in for laser-printed barcodes to reduce paper waste. "The labels, which are etched onto fruit's skins with lasers instead of stickers, will save 10 tons of paper and five tons of glue every year according to M&S," reports The Telegraph. The labels will be etched into the skins of avocados, but "could soon be introduced to other fruit and vegetables and adopted by other supermarkets which are looking for new waste reduction techniques." The labels themselves include the shop logo, best before date, country of origin and product code for entering at the till. What's more is that the avocado's skin is the only area impacted by the lasers -- none of the fruit gets damaged. Bruce66423 writes: Print the information usually on the packaging to reduce waste. Excellent idea -- although the Aldi (the radically cheap, all own brand chain) alternative is to leave avocados untouched and get the cashiers to enter the code.

Comments

Re:Hopefully apples too

[symes]

Very much so. Especially when there is a bit of glue residue left after the label has been removed. I do wonder, though, if this might effect the quality of the fruit. Avacados have thick skin, as do banannas, so they are probably ok. But apples, peaches and so on?

Re: Hopefully apples too

[Anonymous Coward]

I never wash fruit or vegetables. I tried and the only difference I noticed is the time I wasted cleaning them.

Interesting question, is the time saved by not washing worth risking occasional food poisoning ?
Answer: only to those who have not yet experienced food poisoning, esp. Something serious like e.coli

Re:Hopefully onions too

[Cederic]

In the UK Kiwis are fruit. They may alternately be flightless birds but we generally encounter the fruit more frequently.

Nobody here calls it kiwifruit.