Reading Bar Codes

[autofocus]

A Public Service Message. Do you wonder where your food and stuff is coming from? this may help


How to read Bar Codes ... interesting!



This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you.




If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690, 691 or 692, the product is MADE IN CHINA .

471 is Made in Taiwan .

This is our right to know, but the government and related departments never educate the public,
therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves.


However, you may now refer to the barcode, remember if the first 3 digits are:

690-695 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA .
00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA
30 - 37 ... FRANCE
40 - 44 ... GERMANY
47... Taiwan
49 ... JAPAN
50 ... UK

[autofocus]

Wow...this is popular

[OsmosisStudios]

Or, you know, refer to the label where it is, as required by law, indicated.

[dcclark]

To be more specific...

The first digit of a bar code indicates the type of item (produce, dry good, etc.).

The next five digits are the manufacturer code. This is what the original post refers to, as each manufacturer gets a set of digits assigned to it which can indicate where the company is based, among other thing.

The next five digits are the product code. Each company sets these itself, so they're hard to figure out and differ from manufacturer to manufacturer.

The final digit is a check digit, used to detect errors.

The bar code itself is just a font (actually, several fonts) which you can freely obtain.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by dcclark

To be more specific...

The first digit of a bar code indicates the type of item (produce, dry good, etc.).

The next five digits are the manufacturer code. This is what the original post refers to, as each manufacturer gets a set of digits assigned to it which can indicate where the company is based, among other thing.

The next five digits are the product code. Each company sets these itself, so they're hard to figure out and differ from manufacturer to manufacturer.

The final digit is a check digit, used to detect errors.

The bar code itself is just a font (actually, several fonts) which you can freely obtain.

This was sent to me in an email and thought it was worth passing on...so if I understand you correctly David, the first three digits do not specify the country of origin?...and therefore, this is not valid?

[dcclark]

Originally Posted by auto-focus

This was sent to me in an email and thought it was worth passing on...so if I understand you correctly David, the first three digits do not specify the country of origin?...and therefore, this is not valid?

Well... half and half. As usual, these things have a kernel of truth in them. Here's some Wikipedia info. You are presumably talking about the UPC, which is a type of bar code, or possible the EAN-13 (used in europe).

The UPC code (mainly US) encodes the manufacturer in the 5 digits after the first digit. That can tell you something about the location where it was made, but then again, companies manufacture all over the place (and not just where they're based).

The EAN-13 has a code which specifies where the manufacturer is based, but again, that's not related to where the item is actually made. For example, companies based in the US often manufacture items all over the place, including China, which wouldn't be visible in the bar code.

As Osmosis said... you're at least as likely to get the info from reading the packaging, as you are from the UPC.

Incidentally, I know this largely because I've been teaching my students about exactly this.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by dcclark

Well... half and half. As usual, these things have a kernel of truth in them. Here's some Wikipedia info. You are presumably talking about the UPC, which is a type of bar code, or possible the EAN-13 (used in europe).

The UPC code (mainly US) encodes the manufacturer in the 5 digits after the first digit. That can tell you something about the location where it was made, but then again, companies manufacture all over the place (and not just where they're based).

The EAN-13 has a code which specifies where the manufacturer is based, but again, that's not related to where the item is actually made. For example, companies based in the US often manufacture items all over the place, including China, which wouldn't be visible in the bar code.

As Osmosis said... you're at least as likely to get the info from reading the packaging, as you are from the UPC.

Incidentally, I know this largely because I've been teaching my students about exactly this.

Well, you know what they say..."timing is everything." Thanks for the clarification David