From boycotts to barcodes: How supermarket choices still shape the world

When Dunnes Stores workers refused to handle South African oranges in the 1970s, their stand helped change international policy. Today, consumer power looks a little different — driven by apps, labels, and barcodes. But how much can we really trust what we scan, and what’s hidden in the small print on a humble net of oranges?

Dunnes Stores checkout workers on strike. Pic: Eamonn Farrell

Collective action in the supermarket can influence world events. Dunnes Stores workers boycotted South African oranges in the 1970s. 

The strike made international headlines and led the Irish government to ban fruit and vegetables from South Africa.

Prior to the strike the workers had known little about South Africa, but were persuaded by Nimrod Sejake, a trade unionist from South Africa exiled in Ireland, that South Africa was like a pint of Guinness: A small number of whites at the top and all the black people underneath.

People can now take collective action by using apps. Scan a barcode and the app may tell you whether the product you want to buy has been ethically produced.

I was recently made aware of a missed scan or misinformation on one of these boycott apps.

That gave rise to a question about the country of origin of a citrus fruit and the information contained on the label.

It’s remarkable how much information can be derived from a small tag or label attached to a net of oranges, and I’m going to use oranges as an example.

The shopper had scanned the label on a net of oranges in to an app, which read the label and reported that it was an unrelated product, a bar of chocolate.

Because the bar code didn’t match the product that had been scanned, the shopper felt there was something nefarious about the oranges, which were labelled as Egyptian. 

There are two questions: Do the boycott apps work, and can we rely upon the labels in the supermarket?

Boycott apps scan a product’s bar code and identify the brand, manufacturer, or parent company. Based on this, they tell you whether the product aligns with or violates ethical, political, or environmental criteria.

Most of these apps do not have access to a full bar code registry, so they rely on crowdsourcing databases, open-product databases, and public company information.

Larger organisations and companies are easier to track than others, particularly when the bar codes are common internationally. For example, a can of popular cola has the same bar code no matter the country.

Products that are produced and manufactured specifically for a supermarket are more difficult to track.

Some retailers use brand-specific bar codes that only work in their own shop environments and do not transfer elsewhere.

I visited five supermarkets belonging to the pillar retail brands in Ireland and examined each individual bar code on citrus fruit.

That shopper was right: One specific net of oranges scans as a bar of chocolate from a competitor.

However, of all the citrus fruit labels that I examined more than 50% are not contained within the boycott app that the consumer used. Remember, the apps rely on shoppers to upload this data to inform others.

What about those labels that say that the product has come from Egypt?

I visited many Irish supermarkets and examined more labels on oranges, lemons, and limes than I care to count, and one thing became apparent: All citruses sold in Ireland are clearly labelled with the country of origin.

It’s actually unsurprising that some of the oranges on our shelves come from Egypt, the fifth-largest producer of citrus fruit in the world and the largest in proximity to Europe — it produces more than Spain.

Under EU regulations (No 1169/2011) the country of origin must be placed clearly on the product label. 

All the labels I examined stated where these citrus fruits had originated, whether it was Egypt or Spain, or beyond Europe and her neighbours, or as far afield as Argentina and Costa Rica.

Also, did you know that any treatments applied to your fruit before it makes it to the supermarket shelves are now clearly disclosed on the labels?

If you have looked closely at the labels on fruit lately you may have noticed some terms that may not be familiar to you.

Thiabendazole, Pyrimethanil, and Imazalil are all fungicides and applied as a dip or a spray after harvest to reduce the growth of mould. 

You’d be familiar with this mould if you picked up an orange that may have sat in the fruit basket for too long and saw it had developed a green or blue mould and was exceedingly squishy.

These fungicides are designed to keep your fruit fresher for longer and are highly regulated by the EU.

The final treatment that you may see listed on the label is E904 — commonly known as shellac.

Shellac is often used to glaze apples and citrus fruits to give them a shiny appearance and can extend shelf life.

Any fruits that have been treated with this glaze are unsuitable for vegans, as shellac is a natural resin secreted by the lac insect.

Vegan or not, we should all be washing our fruits before eating or even juicing them.

BOYCOTT APPS

Boycat and 'No Thanks' [justiceforpalestine.org.uk/2024/03/no-thanks.html] are the names of two ethical trading apps which many Irish consumers are using to check food producers to see if they are on a boycott list.

An organisation may be placed onto a boycott list for being based in a particular country, but also having dubious equality or sustainability credentials. 

These apps enable consumers to make an informed choice when doing the shopping.

Always read the label — and approach the retailer if you have any queries on provenance. 

If you believe that a retailer or trader has breached consumer law, you can always report your concerns to the CCPC by phoning their National Consumer Helpline on 01 402 5555 or emailing [e-mail]

• Boycat.io
• No Thanks website