To choose a product in a store, it is not enough to examine, touch or try on it; useful information can also be contained on the label. Or rather, on the barcode. Barcode is vertical lines located according to a certain standard, and a sequence of numbers below them. A set of these lines and numbers can be seen on almost any product, be it food, clothing, household items or household appliances. For the first time, consumers found a barcode on the packaging of goods in 1975. Today these marks are used by 800 thousand manufacturers in 94 countries.
Instructions
Step 1
The appearance of a barcode will not tell an uninformed person anything. In addition to the usual lined rectangle, the barcode can be either narrow or short. Some codes are printed without numbers at all. Such abbreviated encodings are allowed, but rather as an exception. Still, most manufacturers strictly adhere to the standard coding system, where each digit implies specific data.
Step 2
The European standard barcode consists of 13 digits, the first two of which indicate the country. The next five are the manufacturer's code. The remaining numbers will tell you about the consumer properties of the product:
1 - product name, 2 - consumer features,
3 - mass, 4 - composition, 5 - product color.
The extreme digit of the barcode is a control one and serves to confirm the authenticity of the code.
Step 3
To calculate - a fake or a genuine product in front of you, it is enough to carry out ordinary arithmetic calculations using barcode numbers. Add numbers in even places. Multiply their sum by three. Then add the numbers from the odd places other than the last one. Now add the two previous results. From this amount, cut off the first digit. Subtract the resulting result from 10. You should get a figure equal to the control one (the last in the row). If they match, this is the original. If not, it's a fake.
Step 4
Unfortunately, the presence of a barcode does not affect the quality of the goods. This label was created exclusively for the manufacturers themselves, not at all for the consumer. However, an inquisitive and attentive consumer can still calculate the manufacturer's coding, or rather his country. But even here some difficulties may arise. The country of origin indicated on the label may not match the barcode country, and this does not mean that you bought a fake. Many companies manufacture goods in one country and register in another or open branches in third countries.
Step 5
So, look at the first two digits of the barcode. Producer Countries Values:
- 00, 01, 03, 04, 06 - USA, Canada;
- 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - France;
- 40, 41, 42, 43 - Germany;
- 49 - Japan;
- 50 - Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
- 54 - Belgium and Luxembourg;
- 56 - Portugal;
- 60, 61 - South Africa;
- 64 - Finland;
- 70 - Norway;
- 72 - Israel;
- 73 - Sweden;
- 76 - Switzerland;
- 80, 81, 82, 83 - Italy;
- 86 - Turkey;
- 87 - Holland;
- 90, 91- Austria;
- 93 - Australia;
- 460 - Russia.
Step 6
To find out directly the manufacturer of the goods by the barcode, you will need an Internet connection. Since 1999, there has been GEPIR - a unified information system for the global register. Each consumer on the official website can request information on the decoding of the bar code. Go to the Russian or GEPIR homepage https://gs46.gs1ru.org/GEPIR31/) and enter the code of the product you are interested in.
