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Q: I heard that you can tell whether a fruit or vegetable is genetically modified by reading its price code. How can I read those numbers?

A: You are referring to a food’s price look-up code, or PLU code. Retailers use these codes to look up the price of a fruit or vegetable, and the codes come either standardized or retailer-assigned. Codes are four digits, but a fifth digit is added at the beginning to signify that the product is organic or genetically modified.

The Produce Electronic Identification Board, which is part of the Delaware-based Produce Marketing Association, assigns the standardized numbers.

Here’s how they work:

• Conventionally grown: The fruit’s PLU code contains any four digits. Pesticides and chemicals may have been used, but the foods are not genetically altered.

• Organic: The code begins with a 9. No pesticides or chemicals were used to grow the product.

• Genetically engineered: The code begins with an 8. The food’s DNA has been altered for various reasons, including to make the plant insect-repellent or to produce a more appealing or marketable fruit.

— Anna Sowa, The Bulletin