Down with fruit label stickers

[01101001]

Just ranting...

Does your grocery supply pieces of fruit with little stickers on them to identify the fruit (presumably to save you and them vast amounts of money by allowing them to forgo training of cashiers in visual fruit identification)?

Hate them? Hate how they slow down consumption while you peel the label off? Hate picking the label out of your teeth if you fail to spot and remove it? Hate how you have to find a disposal container for the sticky label, if you can remove it from your fingers? Hate how thorough removal damages the fruit you're about to eat? Hate how unthorough removal leaves label or adhesive on the fruit you're about to eat?

Don't fruit producers and grocery owners eat fruit? Or do they have servants to deal with the ugly unfriendly little labels?

On the local news a couple days ago, I learned a new reason to hate 'em: they clog the sewage treatment system. Apparently lots of people flush them down the kitchen sink. And, I learned they are not merely paper but plastic, and not so degradable. And, it seems they have about neutral buoyancy, so they neither sink to the bottom nor float to the top.

Local sewage processors had to install special new screens to stop most of them, and staff must several times a day vacuum collected fruit labels off the screens, lest they damage the system.

Hey, I know... the sewage treatment folks can turn a profit by recycling the sludgy sticky labels: rinse them, sort them and sell them back for use on fresh fruit!

I'm looking forward to the day they are banned or dropped. (I heard there are laser-labeling machines being investigated that just burn a harmless ID onto the fruit. Please hurry!)

[Tucson_Tim]

You don't have many problems do ya? :)

[Swift]

You don't have many problems do ya? :)
:D
Yep, they put them on our fruit. I have not had serious issues with them.

[Gillianren]

The ones that amuse the heck out of me (because I don't actually eat fruit, and therefore don't have to deal with 'em) are the ones that inform you that the fruit is organic. Leaving aside the chemical definition of "organic," which makes all fruit organic, is the sticker?

[Spock Jenkins]

I'd rather peel a sticker than have something burned into the fruit. I can't stand bruised bananas or apples - I'm sure I wouldn't like eating around a burned mark.

It's all about getting the right PLU codes to charge the right amount for the product. It's not so easy to correctly identify one of the 10 varieties of apples without the sticker on there.

[Larry Jacks]

Does your grocery supply pieces of fruit with little stickers on them to identify the fruit (presumably to save you and them vast amounts of money by allowing them to forgo training of cashiers in visual fruit identification)?

How many different types of apple are there? Can you tell them apart? Those fruit labels, as annoying as some people seem to think, allow the cashier to punch in a short code (typically 4 digits) to ring up the sale. That's a lot more efficient than having them memorize the codes or have to look them up on every sale.

[NEOWatcher]

It's all about getting the right PLU codes to charge the right amount for the product. It's not so easy to correctly identify one of the 10 varieties of apples without the sticker on there.
I can understand apples, but when it comes to peppers, you are limited quite a bit with green, yellow, red and orange.

How about just making them out of rice paper or something of that nature?

Hate them? Hate how they slow down consumption while you peel the label off?
High speed consumption? Necessary for high volume consumption. http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/nahrung/g010.gif

[01101001]

I'd rather peel a sticker than have something burned into the fruit. I can't stand bruised bananas or apples - I'm sure I wouldn't like eating around a burned mark.

I think the burned label would be better than the plastic/adhesive one. I'd like to taste-test them. Lightly cooked skin, I can tolerate. Plastic and glue, I enjoy not so much.

Good Fruit Grower magazine: New labeling process could reduce costs (http://www.goodfruit.com/issues.php?article=260&issue=8)

The noncontact technology has an articulating arm with an optical head that emits a controlled light beam to the surface of a fruit or vegetable, removing a layer of skin pigment to leave a contrasting mark. The contrasting mark is done without penetrating or degrading the fruit or vegetable.
[...]
There's high interest in the concept due to problems associated with adhesive stickers. "The mess with stickers is not just in the tree fruit industry. It permeates throughout the produce industry," he said [...]

And sewage treatment. Don't forget the sewage treatment!

[Peter Wilson]

Cashier (examining a strange, red fruit): What's this?

It's a pomegranite.

Cashier: Oh! A pomegranite...that's what they make grenedine out of, right?

You got it.

Cashier: So...what do they taste like?

They taste like...Chicken

:razz:

[Swift]

It is fun to confuse cashiers with strange produce. I don't mean to be age-ist, but young teenagers seem to be often most puzzled by such things as ginger, cilantro, various hot peppers (jalepenos and such), etc.

[Kelfazin]

When I was a cashier for a grocery store (not that long ago, I was 16 at the time and 31 now) we were required to spend 10 minutes in the produce department every day before our shift to familiarize ourselves with the different products.

[01101001]

And sewage treatment. Don't forget the sewage treatment!

Now that I'm ruminating on it... I'm suspecting my new preferred disposal method might cause problems, too.

I usually encounter my first sticky produce label of the day at the coffee shop. I peel off the label and... Now I can't stick it on my cup or plate -- it'll be washed off to the sewage treatment plant. My napkin? I'll be wiping my face with that. Nothing worse than wearing a fruit label all day. Can't flick it on the floor. It's hard to throw a sticky label away; you just stick it to something else. So, I stick it onto my newspaper.

And that gets recycled. And I can just picture the manager of the paper recycling plant wondering why the process is getting clogged up by sticky plastic fruit labels!

I've got it. I'll stick them on the soles of my shoes. They'll get ground off on my walk home and they'll make my shoes last just a wee little bit longer. Wait. Nah... those abraded plastic label particles will wind up going down the storm drain and clogging the ocean and its creatures. There's no hope. We're doomed. Finished by sticky plastic fruit labels.

[Frantic Freddie]

I see nobody's mentioned that those labels are edible & biodegradable,so it causes no harm to either eat them or drop them into the sewer or septic tank.

[Mister Earl]

Never been a problem with me. I tend to forget to remove the label until it is already gone.

[Peter Wilson]

...I'm looking forward to the day they are banned or dropped. I heard there are laser-labeling machines being investigated that just burn a harmless ID onto the fruit. Please hurry! :hand:

Banning is a strong possibility--especially if they can be shown to be addictive--but the lasers are way too low-tech. Genetic engineers are perfecting chromosomic insertable cyclic rybosomes that will cause the fruits to grow with their own bar-codes.

Reportedly, the Koreans have already had some success with this approach using laboratory mice.

;)

[Gillianren]

I can understand apples, but when it comes to peppers, you are limited quite a bit with green, yellow, red and orange.

Oh, you're showing that you're not from the Southwest! There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of varieties of chiles. They're not peppers, either; they were called that by the conquistadores because they're spicy in a similar fashion, but they're vastly different from a botanical perspective.

If you mean the chile referred to as a "bell pepper," however, yeah, there's pretty much no distinction there.

[Pinemarten]

It is fun to confuse cashiers with strange produce. I don't mean to be age-ist, but young teenagers seem to be often most puzzled by such things as ginger, cilantro, various hot peppers (jalepenos and such), etc.

What is more fun it to smuggle in a product that they don't have on any shelf. It won't show in the scanner database, and 'price check on till #6' will produce even more humorous results.

[01101001]

I see nobody's mentioned that those labels are edible & biodegradable,so it causes no harm to either eat them or drop them into the sewer or septic tank.

Cite? How biodegradable? The TV News report I saw said they are plastic and do not degrade readily. I'm sure given enough time and UV radiation they could degrade. But they last too long. Hence, they needed special screens to remove them from the sewage stream. The sewage district is spending good rate-payer money processing them.

I wouldn't doubt they, labels and adhesive, are edible, and do no harm to humans, or minuscule. Corporate risk aversion and even the government bureaucracies would make things tend that way. (Edit: But, there's that sewage issue again, for the labels that pass.)

Edit: just double checking. First Google hit I got, Melbourne Water (http://www.melbournewater.com.au/content/sewerage/help_make_our_environment_squeaky_clean/help_make_our_environment_squeaky_clean.asp?bhcp=1 ):

Before rinsing your fruit and vegetables in the sink, make sure you remove the brand labels and dispose of them in the rubbish bin. These small, sticky labels are non-biodegradable and cannot be treated by the bacteria that breaks down the rest of the waste.

[Ronald Brak]

I thought the point of the little stickers was to brand fruit. This way they can charge more for supposedly higher quality versions of the same type of apple. Unfortunately stickers cost money and more importantly it takes time to apply them so the process raises the average cost of fruit while presumably giving people more choice.

[mr obvious]

Perhaps they can recover the money via mini-advertisements. I saw some bananas a while ago that had Looney Tunes characters displayed on the stickers. I hope no one thought that the bananas contained Tweety extract.

[Noclevername]

Perhaps they can recover the money via mini-advertisements. I saw some bananas a while ago that had Looney Tunes characters displayed on the stickers. I hope no one thought that the bananas contained Tweety extract.

They could still do that with the laser-branding, just not in color.

[NEOWatcher]

When I was a cashier for a grocery store (not that long ago, I was 16 at the time and 31 now) we were required to spend 10 minutes in the produce department every day before our shift to familiarize ourselves with the different products.
A grocery that trains its workers? Wow; I'll shop there.

I once stood in line behind someone who bought a cabbage, and the cashier had to ask another one what it was.

Not just produce though; One day I purchased some tripe, and the cashier asked me "what kind of fish is that?"

Never been a problem with me. I tend to forget to remove the label until it is already gone.
Which means they still go down the sewer.

Oh, you're showing that you're not from the Southwest!
Yep; you caught me... I was trying to picture an example, and that's the best I could come up with. Although, my above experiences do kind of discredit the statement anyway.

[Peter Wilson]

What is more fun it to smuggle in a product that they don't have on any shelf. It won't show in the scanner database, and 'price check on till #6' will produce even more humorous results.

That is down-right mean :(

...gotta try it, though :shifty:

One day I purchased some tripe, and the cashier asked me "what kind of fish is that?" Triped bass

[Fazor]

The ones that amuse the heck out of me (because I don't actually eat fruit, and therefore don't have to deal with 'em) are the ones that inform you that the fruit is organic. Leaving aside the chemical definition of "organic," which makes all fruit organic, is the sticker?

:) Funny you should mention that. I just had the same conversation with my g/f the other day when we were at the grocery store. They have bins of "organic" fruit and vegetables, always markedly higher price then their (non-organic?) brethren.

[Gillianren]

Our farmers' market separates them into separate bins--there are two fruit vendors, and they essentially do the same thing on opposite ends of the market. I believe the difference is twenty cents a pound. No stickers, though.

[EricM407]

[snip]
cilantro

Sorry to sidetrack the thread, but for You People who eat and enjoy this vile weed, what does it taste like to you? It tastes like a combination of soap and some metallic chemical to me. I can barely eat out anymore because it's literally everywhere I go in everything they serve, and I don't understand why people would purposely put this unedible item in my food.

[NEOWatcher]

Sorry to sidetrack the thread, but for You People who eat and enjoy this vile weed, what does it taste like to you?
We all have our own tastes, and they do change with age. I, for one, used to abhor cilantro. Now its a neccesary garnish for chili and some beef and/or tomato dishes.

[EricM407]

I, for one, used to abhor cilantro. Now its a neccesary garnish for chili and some beef and/or tomato dishes.

This has happened to about 95% of the people I know over the last 5-10 years. They look at me like I'm crazy because I won't accept the weed. Maybe I am crazy, but in the America I grew up in, people didn't sneak disgusting things into your food. I don't even discuss it with them now; I just politely decline dinner invitations.

You probably used to be normal, but after a certain amount of exposure your brain was permanently altered, and you became one of the Cilantro People. Now, like any addict, you think it's actually necessary. It's obviously very insidious.

[NEOWatcher]

You probably used to be normal, but after a certain amount of exposure your brain was permanently altered...
And why is that not normal? You are nearing my level of being offended.

One thing that I did learn with many of my taste changes is just exposure and context.
I used to hate salad dressing because my mind thought mayo and it tasted funny.
I used to hate cilantro for the same reason. It was parsley with a funny taste.

There are still some things that I treat this way... I don't think I will ever get a Verners down because I love Ginger Ale... but, like I said, it's just a matter of taste.

[korjik]

I think he is yankin your chain

[EricM407]

And why is that not normal?

All I meant was, you were a certain way, and now you're different. You were actually normal in both cases, from the majority's point of view. From my point of view it's as if I went to sleep one night, and when I woke up I was still the same, but everybody else had changed. Everybody looked exactly the same, but they weren't really THEM anymore... and they were all munching on cilantro.

You are nearing my level of being offended.

I don't mean to offend. Hate the cilantro, love the cilantro eater - that's my motto. I'm no cilantrophobe or anti-Cilantrite. I do wish You People would stop trying to shove your hidden cilantro agenda down my throat though.

[Stuart van Onselen]

EricM407: As one noob to another, I just want to say, I think you're gonna fit in great around here! That was hilarious! :lol:

[Gillianren]

I hardly ever criticize someone's eating habits. Note my earlier post about not eating fruit or vegetables; I don't dare call other people's eating habits weird.

[Fazor]

I couldn't live without fruits or vegetables.... okay that's a like. i would be a happy carnevour, but since I have the choice, I'll stay an omnivour.

[NEOWatcher]

All I meant was, you were a certain way, and now you're different.
It could have been an overreaction on my part, or bad wording on your part. There was no context of "not normal for me", only a context of "not normal period".
Either way, I appreciate the clarification.

[Fazor]

There was no context of "not normal for me", only a context of "not normal period".

We're Ohioans, I thought we were about as sterotypically normal as it gets?

[NEOWatcher]

We're Ohioans, I thought we were about as sterotypically normal as it gets?
I hope not... You said it yourself over here (http://www.bautforum.com/showpost.php?p=943768&postcount=6)... normal for Ohio is dumb.

[Fazor]

Well, I for one never claimed to be smart ;)
Back on the topic of fruit stickers; I've never really had a problem with them before. Of course, now that we've been talking about it, they apparently decided to strike back (but I'm innocent, I swear!). My kiwi this morning refused to give up thier stickers. Was annoying but didn't make a difference, as the hairy kiwi skin wasn't the part I was interested in eating anyway :) But it still made me laugh.

[Extravoice]

How many different types of apple are there? Can you tell them apart? Those fruit labels, as annoying as some people seem to think, allow the cashier to punch in a short code (typically 4 digits) to ring up the sale. That's a lot more efficient than having them memorize the codes or have to look them up on every sale.

I worked my way through college as a clerk in a grocery store. I could identify all the apples, and memorized the item codes for each of them.

In the old days, we had this thing called "learning." I'm not so good at it any more, but it is a skill that sometimes comes in handy.

[NEOWatcher]

I say we push for equal rights for produce.

If any produce has stickers, then all produce should have stickers.

Stickers for every grape, grape tomato, green bean, mushroom, and so one.

[Captain Kidd]

It's useful for us weirdos that use the self-checkout lanes. Although my wife has most of the codes memorized now. If it weren't for the built-in delay as it does the anti-theft weighing of the items as you bag it, she'd be faster than a lot of the cashiers.

I'm still getting over my amazement at people putting the stickers down the drain. Um, what's wrong with the trash can? Ok, three steps away maybe, are we that lazy of a culture? (Don't answer that.)

[NEOWatcher]

I'm still getting over my amazement at people putting the stickers down the drain. Um, what's wrong with the trash can? Ok, three steps away maybe, are we that lazy of a culture? (Don't answer that.)
I wonder if most of it is the stuff you peal. Two words... Garbage Disposal.

[SeanF]

I wonder if most of it is the stuff you peal. Two words... Garbage Disposal.
Bell peppers?

[MAPNUT]

010110001, thank you so much for addressing this problem. (Did I spell your name right?) I calculate that I will spend 10 hours of the rest of my life peeling off these labels and properly disposing of them. And I'm not a young person. And that's assuming I don't start washing the apple first which makes it more difficult to get the label off, and also assuming that the label has the little non-sticky tab without which it's even more difficult to peel off. Such encroachments on our productivity are serious matters. (I'm writing this on my lunch hour.)

If it were up to me, I would just buy bagged apples. But my wife, bless her heart, insists on picking out the best quality apples for me. I can't repudiate her love like that, so have no choice but to go on peeling labels.

Well, the heading of this section is "Babbling".

[Noclevername]

Bell peppers?

That rings true.

[NEOWatcher]

That rings true.
I can't believe I did that. :lol:

On second thought, yes I can. :doh:

[Noclevername]

I can't believe I did that. :lol:

On second thought, yes I can. :doh:

I just had to chime in. Hope I didn't strike a sour note.

(Uhhh... Is there a pun involving the word "harpsichord"? Cause I really can't think of one.)

[NEOWatcher]

(Uhhh... Is there a pun involving the word "harpsichord"? Cause I really can't think of one.)
It would probably end up rotten anyway.

[Fazor]

I'm afraid these puns are going to have a very negative effect on my sense of humor. I tell enough bad jokes as it is.

[Peter Wilson]

Uhhh... Is there a pun involving the word "harpsichord"? Cause I really can't think of one.

I can't string one together neither

:think:

[NEOWatcher]

I can't string one together neither

:think:
Are you sure you can't pluck one out of somewhere?

[Noclevername]

Are you sure you can't pluck one out of somewhere?

This thread is just Lurching from one pun to another. In fact, it's a key board characteristic, so if you don't like it, just pedal on out of here!

[MAPNUT]

Can't you guys stop bickering and come to a harps accord?

[Peter Wilson]

Can't you guys stop bickering and come to a harps accord?:clap:

It was just beyond my reach, but I knew it could be pun.

[Noclevername]

Can't you guys stop bickering and come to a harps accord?

All right, we'll tone it down and try to live in harmony. I'll make a note of it.

If that doesn't work, just tune us out.

[Gillianren]

I couldn't live without fruits or vegetables....

No one understands how I can, either. I'm supposed to be charting my food intake for my therapist this week, and boy, is she going to be surprised. (I do eat starches aplenty, though, so I'm not a total carnivore.)

[Maksutov]

What is more fun it to smuggle in a product that they don't have on any shelf. It won't show in the scanner database, and 'price check on till #6' will produce even more humorous results.I think you or one of your disciples has been in line in front of me the last three times I've visited the grocery store. I think the fourth time this happens I will punch that person out.

[Maksutov]

One vegetable I bought a while back (think it was a spaghetti squash) not only had the product code but a small, embedded microchip that would play Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor after you completed the purchase. It was definitely organic.

[Noclevername]

One vegetable I bought a while back (think it was a spaghetti squash) not only had the product code but a small, embedded microchip that would play Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor after you completed the purchase. It was definitely organic.

Mmmmm... organic microchip....

[sarongsong]

All part of a...government plot!? http://bautforum.com/images/icons/icon10.gifSUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the voluntary nutrition labeling regulations by updating the names and the nutrition labeling values for the 20 most frequently consumed raw fruits, vegetables, and fish in the United States and clarifying guidelines for the voluntary nutrition labeling of these foods...
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2008...
The 20 most frequently consumed raw fruits are:
Apple, avocado (California), banana, cantaloupe, grapefruit, grapes, honeydew melon, kiwifruit, lemon, lime, nectarine, orange, peach, pear, pineapple, plums, strawberries, sweet cherries, tangerine, and watermelon...

The 20 most frequently consumed raw vegetables are:
Asparagus, bell pepper, broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, green (snap) beans, green cabbage, green onion, iceberg lettuce, leaf lettuce, mushrooms, onion, potato, radishes, summer squash, sweet corn, sweet potato, and tomato...
FDA (http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/fr060725.html)"avocado (California)"?
Re cilantro, the health benefits it provides might outweigh any taste objections.

[01101001]

"avocado (California)"?

I suspect, from Avocado.org (http://www.avocado.org/about/avocado_history.php):

The mother tree of all Hass avocados was born in a backyard in La Habra Heights, California.

And Cook's Thesaurus: Avocadoes (http://www.foodsubs.com/Avocados.html):

Fuerte avocado = Florida avocado
Hass avocado = California avocado

[sarongsong]

Ah, very good! Hass is the best variety, IMO, and now that I think about it, Mexican avocados are quite smooth-skinned; definitely not Hass, though Mexican producers may have adopted them by now.

[Musashi]

I have lived in La Habra Heights. I used to walk around the neighborhood and pick avocados (with permission, of course).

[Maksutov]

I used to live in an Italian neighborhood where during the summer you'd get chased by zucchinis.

[sarongsong]

Ah yes, the Cucurbitaceae Family (http://hort-devel-nwrec.hort.oregonstate.edu/zuc.html)---you're lucky to have escaped!

[Gillianren]

I have lived in La Habra Heights. I used to walk around the neighborhood and pick avocados (with permission, of course).

Actually, my understanding is that, reports to the contrary notwithstanding, the Hass is from Pasadena originally. My mother lives three blocks north of Pasadena, and there are (Hass) avocado trees in her yard.

[EricM407]

Re cilantro, the health benefits it provides might outweigh any taste objections.

I'll take my chances with death.

[Musashi]

Actually, my understanding is that, reports to the contrary notwithstanding, the Hass is from Pasadena originally. My mother lives three blocks north of Pasadena, and there are (Hass) avocado trees in her yard.

Well, there are Hass avocado trees in yards all over SoCal. There are probably a dozen in yards on my street here (in Brea), and I have had plenty of customers in the area offer me fresh picked Hass from their giant trees (Hacienda Heights, Rowlands Heights, La Habra, La Habra Heights, Fullerton, Yorba Linda, etc.) So I am not sure that having trees in the yard is proof that the line started there. On the other hand, I have no stake in where the Hass started. It does seem like the commonly accepted idea is that the all existing Hass come from the "mother tree." Is there any reason to doubt this?

[Gillianren]

Well, there are Hass avocado trees in yards all over SoCal. There are probably a dozen in yards on my street here (in Brea), and I have had plenty of customers in the area offer me fresh picked Hass from their giant trees (Hacienda Heights, Rowlands Heights, La Habra, La Habra Heights, Fullerton, Yorba Linda, etc.) So I am not sure that having trees in the yard is proof that the line started there. On the other hand, I have no stake in where the Hass started. It does seem like the commonly accepted idea is that the all existing Hass come from the "mother tree." Is there any reason to doubt this?

Oh, I'm not saying that my mother's trees are evidence of where Hass originated; it really should have been a separate paragraph, now I look at it. I have, however, read at least three different claims for the origin of the Hass avocado, all including their own claims of where the mother tree is. What do I know? I never thought about it until the avocado episode of Good Eats--which says Pasadena for origin, incidentally.

[Musashi]

Hass originally sold most of his produce in Pasadena. I wonder if that adds to any confusion?

[Gillianren]

Entirely possible. And it's also possible that I just want Pasadena to be known for more than the Rose Bowl, since it's the closest place to my hometown that people have heard of. (I'm from Altadena.)

[Musashi]

I always think of dairy when I think of Altadena. :)

That reminds me. There is this restaurant in Pasadena, on Colorado that has all you can eat tacos. We call it Taco-Bar, but I don't remember its real name. Ever heard of such a thing?

[Gillianren]

What stretch of Colorado? (I grew up calling Pasadena City College "the University of Colorado Boulevard," because so many of my classmates ended up there after high school and stayed for longer than two years.)

[Musashi]

I think it might be La Fiesta Grande between Madison and El Molino. It has probably been at least 5 years since I ate there.

[Gillianren]

Jeez. I know the area right there pretty well--I used to take the 260 down Los Robles to high school. Can't place the restaurant, though. There are an awful lot of little Mexican restaurants around there! (They took out the mall after I left, and I've not been back since they put in its replacement, so I'm not even sure what it is. How weird is that?)

[sarongsong]

...I just want Pasadena to be known for more than the Rose Bowl...Well, there's CalTech (http://www.caltech.edu/), The Tournament of Roses (http://www.tournamentofroses.com/index.asp), and Jan & Dean's "...terror of Colorado Boulevard..."
(I know what ye'r thinkn' (http://www.gogrannygo.com/music/little-old-lady.html)...)

[Graybeard6]

My new copy of "Cook's Illustrated" arrived today and what did I find but this item from Mary Dawn Gaubatz (I am not making this up!) of Missoula, Montana.

"1. Dip the corner of a paper towel in vegetable oil. Rub the oiled towel over the sticker and let sit for about five minutes.
2. Peel off the offending sticker without damaging the fruit."

[Gillianren]

Well, there's CalTech (http://www.caltech.edu/), The Tournament of Roses (http://www.tournamentofroses.com/index.asp), and Jan & Dean's "...terror of Colorado Boulevard..."
(I know what ye'r thinkn' (http://www.gogrannygo.com/music/little-old-lady.html)...)

"The Tournament of Roses" is just the official name for what we from that area mean when we say "the Rose Bowl." We don't really mean the stadium. (I do, I'll admit, get up early every New Year's Day to watch the parade on HGTV. It's not the same without Bob and Stefanie, though.) Still. It's a little frustrating when you have to continually identify not even your hometown but the town next to your hometown as "the Rose Bowl place."

Anyway. Stickers.

Seriously, would you wait five minutes to get the stupid sticker off?

[MAPNUT]

I've just upped my estimate from 10 hours to 600 hours of the rest of my life peeling stickers.

[triplebird]

Apparently, if you don't like removing the label, you can just eat it:

(From Radio-Canada's L'épicerie at http://www.radio-canada.ca/actualite/v2/lepicerie/niveau2_14223.shtml)

"...si par mégarde, vous croquez dans l’étiquette adhésive, sachez qu’elle n’est pas toxique. Elle est constituée de vrai papier, et la colle est faite d’une solution d’eau, mélangée à du sucre ou de l’amidon."

"...if you inadvertently eat the label, know that it is not toxic. It's made of paper, and the adhesive is made of a water solution mixed with sugar or starch."

[NEOWatcher]

Ok; not exactly sticker, but it is vegetable packing/labeling related...

Iceberg Lettuce Sales Grow Cold (http://www.myfoxcleveland.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=3471112&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.6.1)
So; they will be able to increase the sale of lettuce by making it look like a baseball, and telling people they can cut it into wedges.


Grocers such as [...] will be supplied with signs and banners promoting what the company hopes will become an annual link between iceberg lettuce and Father's Day.
Phil Lempert, a produce industry analyst [...], is skeptical about the connection. "I can imagine if a lot of kids are bringing their fathers a head of lettuce for Father's Day, they're not going to be very happy," he said.

[Gillianren]

It sounds to me like there are two different kinds of label. I mean, I wouldn't know, of course, but that's what it sounds like.