Recently I picked up a new tip from our senior groceries editor, Mara, that eliminates loads of produce barcode scanning and makes self-checkout feel like an express lane. The trick is to memorize the ...

Aidan Mieu, a cashier at Berkeley Bowl, holding their book of produce codes. Lance Yamamoto/Special to SFGATE. Within those pages are each cashier’s personal notes on what, ...

• A four-digit code beginning with a 3 or a 4 means the produce is probably conventionally grown. For example, regular small lemons sold in the U.S. are labeled 4033, large are 4053; small ...