Food & Beverage Magazine: What is the significance of barcoding every single apple in a mountain of fruit at the supermarket? It seems a tedious process when an apple is surely just an apple. But, an apple is much more than what is seen at face value. It comes with a history – a place of origin, a past in which it was grown in specific soil and shipped in a certain container. This is valuable information, even for the humble apple, as a food recall could affect any product at any time.