They have been present in our daily lives for 50 years now. Barcodes are on all products and allow us to know essential information. But do you know how to read
Every second, 70,000 barcodes are scanned at checkouts around the world. These codes are present on all consumer products, from toothbrushes to fruit juice bottles, including clothing, toys and household appliances. And this April 3, 2023, the barcode celebrates the 50th anniversary of its generalization by trade federations on products.
These codes are not only used to be scanned at the checkout to find out what price our basket is worth. There is a lot of other useful information for consumers.
numbers and bars
Each barcode is made up of more or less wide vertical lines, and 13 digits. These are the ones that contain essential information, but you still have to know how to decipher them.
First of all, the first two or three correspond to the country of origin of the product. For those made in France, the codes begin with the numbers ranging from 300 to 379. The numbers from 540 to 549 indicate that the product comes from Belgium, and those numbered from 690 to 695 from China.
This information is more than important at a time when consumers are paying more and more attention to the origin of their products. Indeed, it is essential for some to know if what they are buying was made close to home, or on the other side of the world.
The next four or five digits correspond to the member number of the company participating in the EAN system, which is the official name of the barcodes. Three letters for European Article Numbering.
After that, four or five digits are the item number itself. Finally, the last is a control key which allows to authenticate the barcode.
Barcodes will soon be replaced by the QR code
But the barcode should soon disappear to make way for the QR code by 2027. An acronym which means “quick response code”.
We have all seen it on the café terraces which provide access to the menu, or on the health passes during the first waves of the Covid-19 pandemic. When it replaces the barcode, the QR code will be intended to provide additional information, in particular on recycling, reuse or reuse.
Don’t worry, the information you have just learned regarding the 13 digits present under the barcodes will still be useful, since they will also always be displayed under the QR codes.
