Remember when it was recently revealed that singles are popping upside-down pineapples into their shopping carts to signal to other shoppers that they are on the market? Well, apparently subtle supermarket dating codes don’t just stop there. Oh no. A new dating code involves people using red bell peppers to communicate to the entire vegetable aisle that they’re looking to have an affair. Here are the details.

It all started on Illicit Encounters, the UK’s leading website for married people wanting to have an affair. So yes, this trend is 100 per cent made in the UK.

In the Flirt Forum, where cheaters can debate hot topics such as ‘Wild Excuses You Told to Avoid Getting Caught’, ‘How to Hide The Ring’, or the suggestive ‘hotels’, someone proposed the understated new ‘Bell Pepper Code’.

“I was chatting with a friend about how we all should come up with a fun, low-key way to signal to others that we’re… how shall we say, open to meeting someone new in public?” The new entry by an anonymous user started.

Then they continued with detailed instructions on how to exercise this hyper-complex code: “Here’s the deal: If you’re at the supermarket, feeling adventurous and maybe not quite as satisfied at home as you should be, you simply put TWO BELL PEPPERS in your trolley/basket BUT the stems have to be facing downward. That’s the key… It’s like a secret handshake but with veg.” Interesting proposition.

“Think about it. You’re casually browsing the aisles, and suddenly you spot someone with the telltale peppers in their basket. Your eyes meet. There’s a knowing glance. An instant connection, all thanks to a couple of peppers. What do we reckon? Secret meets in Tescos?”

Interestingly, the post gained a lot of traction with multiple users in the comment section stating that they had recently discovered other spouses with the two upside-down bell peppers at the supermarket.

One user quipped they “had not seen so much traffic on a forum topic,” while others noted that they would also be trying the trick soon.

Some even suggested that these underhanded supermarket codes have existed for a long time: “There was a similar signal in the ‘80s! A pair of grapefruit in your trolley. Being a young Army wife with two young’uns and a husband on a 6-month UNFICYP tour, I used to get a couple of trolley loads a month with that.”

Nevertheless, it didn’t take long until users pointed out that this playful hack might undermine the secret of their cheating, particularly if the masses catch on to the code…

After all, openly and visibly sending a signal to the whole supermarket that they are looking to explore outside of their marriage or relationship might not be the hidden, stealthy move they were hoping for.

So, while it might add some excitement to grocery shopping, this cheeky code could also turn a simple errand into a risky affair—quite literally.

Commenting on the discussion, Jessica Leoni, a spokesperson for Illicit Encounters told Indy100: “While we normally encourage discretion in these matters, we never thought we’d see the day where people would be checking out each other’s vegetables in the supermarket – and not in the way you’d expect! If this catches on, I suppose we can only hope everyone’s keeping their cool in the frozen food aisle.”

I suspect things will be heating up quite quickly, either from the sparks flying between two cheating spouses, or a partner fuming from catching the other red-handed with a simple look at their basket or trolley.