On airport X-ray scanners, the color orange is used to identify organic substances. This category includes a vast range of everyday items such as food, clothing, paper, books, and plastics. Because organic materials are composed of lower-density elements like carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the scanner's software color-codes them as orange to distinguish them from inorganic materials like metals (which show up as blue) or "mixed" materials like glass and some dense plastics (which show up as green). However, security officers pay close attention to orange shapes because explosives—which are often nitrogen-based organic compounds—also appear in shades of orange. This is why things like large blocks of cheese, thick bundles of paper, or jars of peanut butter may trigger a manual bag search, as their density and orange color profile can mimic the appearance of certain hazardous materials on the operator's screen.