Tired of those annoying labels on your fruit? Well, a new technology that uses a low-energy carbon dioxide laser to ‘etch’ information on fruit may be the way of the future.
Although the technology has been used in New Zealand, Australia, and Pacific Rim countries, and has been approved in Asia, South Africa, South America, Canada, and the European Union, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in still in the final stages of approving fruit laser etching in the United States.
In a recent study published in the Hort Technology Journal, researchers concluded that, when compared with sticker-labeled fruit, laser etching provides a relatively tamper-free labeling method, while "the fruit quality remains high as the invasion of the epidermis does not incite decay, provide an avenue for food pathogens, and water loss is easily controlled."
A laser label will not get in the way of washing, peeling or eating. It may even save some trees while eliminating paper waste at the same time.
Via: American Society for Horticultural Science
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