HOW TO READ UPC BAR CODES

HOW TO READ BAR CODES

ALWAYS READ THE LABELS ON THE FOODS YOU BUY.

NO MATTER WHAT THE FRONT OF THE BOX OR PACKAGE SAYS, TURN IT OVER AND READ THE BACK!

UPC bar codes, the type most commonly used in the United States, do not typically contain a country identifier. You can identity where the product is made or manufactured by the bar code attached to it. The first 3 digit of the bar code is the country code where the product is manufactured or made.

Many products no longer show where they were made, only give where the distributor is located.

It is important to read the bar code to track its origin.

  

How to read Bar Codes

Remember if the first 3 digits are:

00 - 09    USA  &  CANADA

300 - 379  FRANCE

400- 440   GERMANY

471           Taiwan

450-459    JAPAN

500-509    UK

690-695    CHINA

If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690  691 692 693 694 695 , the product is MADE IN  CHINA .

471 is Made in Taiwan .

BUY PRODUCTS  MADE IN USA & CANADIAN by watching for " 0 " at the beginning of the number.

UPC BARCODES

Barcode prefixes do not provide identification of origin for a specific product. They merely provide number capacity to different countries for the assignment of barcode prefixes by the GS1 (Global Standard One)

UPC (Universal Product Code)  Barcodes do not show the leading zero. A UPC Barcode that starts with 7 would have a country code of 070 – 079.

Here is the current list of country codes

§  000 – 019 U.S. and Canada

§  060 – 099 U.S. and Canada

§  100 – 139 U.S.

§  300 – 379 France and Monaco

• 400 – 440 Germany
• 450 – 459 Japan
• 460 – 469 Russia
• 471 Taiwan

§                       480 Philippines

         489 Hong Kong SAR

• 490 – 499 Japan
• 500 – 509 United Kingdom
• 520 – 521 Greece
• 690 – 695 China, The People’s Republic
• 750 Mexico
• 800 – 839 Italy, San Marino and Vatican City
• 840 – 849 Spain and Andorra
• 850 Cuba
• 880 South Korea
• 884 Cambodia
• 885 Thailand
• 888 Singapore
• 890 India
• 893 Vietnam