the legislation does not state that fruit must be laseretched&mdashrather, it states that a ban on coating fruit in certain chemicals is now null and void. for three years, a spanish company called laser food has been lobbying the eu to lift the ban. why selfinterest. laser food figures their laser etching technology would be a nobrainer for fruit, replacing the ink, adhesives and paper required to create a fruit sticker, but they discovered that laser burns don&39t show up very well on fruit skins. click here to see a rather dull video of an american company doing a testrun on an untreated orange, with disappointing results. however, they found that coating fruit with a combination of iron oxides and hydroxides provides the necessary contrast for laser etching. british industry periodical the grocer reports that lasering would bring cost savings and improved sortability for fruit suppliers. a laser food exec was effusive, claiming fruit lasering would "facilitate transportation and storage." but unsurprisingly, no one is providing results of any health studies saying that iron oxides and hydroxides are ok for us to ingest
