Researchers are awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval of a laser etching system that supporters say could replace sticky produce labels.
Scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture have been examining a laser system that can etch product information directly on individual pieces of fruit and vegetables much like a tattoo.
The technology, invented by Greg Drouillard, owner of Laser Application Technologies, Peachtree City, Ga., and director of research technology for laser development for Sunkist Growers Inc., Sherman Oaks, Calif., uses a carbon dioxide laser beam to etch product information into the first few outer cells of the peel of the fruit or vegetable.
Jan Narciso, a research microbiologist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's U.S. Citrus and Subtropical Products Laboratory in Winter Haven, Fla., said scientists expect FDA approval shortly.
She said scientists at the center have used the laser etching system on citrus, avocados, tomatoes, onions, potatoes and garlic.
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Courtesy Greg Drouillard |
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New laser labeling technology uses a carbon dioxide laser beam to etch product information into the first few outer cells of the peel of a fruit or vegetable. Some say the system could replace sticky produce labels. |
Leafy greens are about the only produce the system doesn't work well on, Narciso said.
"With all of the biosecurity and food safety issues becoming so huge with fresh produce, I see this system becoming the norm," she said. "Everyone I have talked with says they hate the sticky labels as they're hard to come off and can take half the peel off with them. This system is a great safeguard for traceability as you know the product would not be tampered with. This product down the road could become paramount."
Narciso said fruit topography has a lot to do with what and how much information shippers can place on the fruit.
Drouillard said the biggest advantage of the system he developed in 1994 and commercialized in 1997 involves not having to store and print labels. He calls it a green and energy-efficient process.
"It can print anything," he said. "The criteria of what determines what you're printing are how fast the product is moving on the packing line and how big the product is. How much of the tomato do you want to cover with information?"
Drouillard, who controls licensing of the system, said he isn't sure how he plans to license it. The first rollout, however, which hasn't been scheduled, will be with Sunkist, he said.
National studies conducted by Sunkist as well as a consumer research firm show 98% consumer acceptance of the system, Drouillard said.
Watermelon grower-shipper Coosaw Farms, Fairfax, S.C., used the laser letters on its watermelons in 2003.
Angela Chappell, business development manager, said it proved successful but Coosaw's retail customers didn't seem interested in using it.
"I can see it working for smaller pieces of fruit," she said. "You could save a lot of money but the advantages just haven't really caught on yet. You have trade-offs. You lose everything you could be printing on a color label, which looks a lot nicer in your merchandising with all of its attributes."