Is it really possible to determine the country of origin of a product based on a barcode?

Misleading information has been circulating on the Internet for a long time, claiming that consumers can “verify” the origin of a product based on the digits of a barcode.

“A BAR code (otherwise known as an EAN code) is a bar code that also has a number. The number is for people and the barcode is for scanning machines. Each code starts with a country code, which we list below, so you can always know the country of origin of the product”– claims one on the website (language not corrected).

Similar information is given when calling for a boycott of Israeli goods in support of Palestine.

“Israeli barcode numbers 729, 841, 871. Boycott Israeli products,” the Facebook post said. in the message.

Decode the code

Barcode (barcodes is an unacceptable foreignness, from the English word bar – a dash) – it is a sequence of parallel dashes of various widths, placed at unequal distances, denoting a code.

Almost everyone who wants to sell their goods in stores or online needs a barcode.

It is printed on various products and their labels. Barcode numeric bars and numbers directly doesn’t mean anythingit is a global GS1 company prefix based on GTIN (eng. Global Trade Item Number) is an identifier given in dash format.

This identifier is a key to automatically access product information in databases.

However, the country code does not necessarily match the country of origin of the product.

The first digits of the code directly refer to the GS1 (Neutral Organization for the Development and Distribution of Standards) member organization where the Global System User Certificate was issued. prefix (prefix aut. post.).

These numbers mean that the barcode is only registered in a certain country, but does not necessarily indicate the country of origin of the product.

The country of origin is not shown

Giedrė Ražinskienė, head of GS1 Lithuania, the organization that administers the barcode system and other standards in Lithuania 15min debunked the myth that a product’s barcode can determine its country of origin.

“Consumers often believe that the country of origin of a product can be determined by the barcode (its first number). However, this is an incorrect belief.

A barcode issued by a specific country begins with that country prefix and shows in which country the code is registered with the GS1 organization.

The product can be produced anywhere in the world, and the brand owner is responsible for the branding,” explained the head of GS1 Lithuania.

GS1, the non-profit standards organization that assigns bar code numbers, makes it clear on its website that according to prefixes cannot be determined country of origin of the product.

Shutterstock photo/Products

The composition is not shown either

According to the expert, the numbers specified in the barcode cannot show whether the product contains insects or other products of animal origin:

“A barcode is a ‘key’ to certain information. It is not possible to identify the ingredients of food products in the digital code combination itself,” the specialist explained.

“If you want to find out more information about the product or the owner of the brand that labels that product, you can check the global GS1 register,” added G. Ražinskienė.

System of algorithms

The way the barcode system works is that as long as the product with the barcode is on the market, the global product number assigned to the manufacturer must be used. The company pays an annual support fee once a year.

When they discontinue products, change operations, or close, this manufacturer number returns to the system.

Can be distinguished three parts of the identifier encoded in the barcode: this is the global company prefix (GS1 member organization prefix and manufacturer/distributor identification in the database), the part identifying the product itself, and the control, the last digit, calculated according to a special algorithm. GS1 global company prefixes can be between 5 and 10 digits long, depending on the country, or even the order established by the individual GS1 organization.

A product manufacturer can produce identical products in different parts of the world – the country of origin is not a mandatory information in the product description associated with a specific code.

However, an identical item will have its own identical barcode regardless of where it was manufactured.

Pauliaus Peleckis/BNS photo/”Products (associative photo)

15min verdict: partly a lie. According to the barcode, it is not possible to determine the country of origin of the product – only the country where this code was issued.

The publication was prepared in 15 minutes in partnership with Metawhich aims to stop the spread of misleading news on the social network. More about the program and its rules – here.