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What does a bar code tell you?

Over the past two years we have heard a lot of reports in the news and online about dangerous and toxic levels of lead in our children’s clothing and toys.  The U.S. Consumer and Safety Commission have now recalled millions of Children’s products manufactured in China and other Asian territories and changed policy in the United States to enforce resale of clothing and toys that may contain dangerous lead levels (http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml09/09120.html).  

With almost every store using computerized scanners at the checkout counters, EAN (European Article Number) codes are now on almost every product in every store.  The good news is this helps the consumer understand where a product comes from even if the product tag doesn’t indicate.  Here is some helpful information that you can print out and stick in your purse or wallet. 

The first 3 digits of an EAN bar code will tell you what country the bar code was registered in.  In this example, it’s Taiwan. 

000-019 = USA 

030-039 = USA

060-139 = USA

300-379 = France

400-440 = Germany

450- 459 & 490-499 = Japan

471 = Taiwan

480 = Philippines

489 = Hong Kong

500-509 = UK

628 = Saudi Arabia

690-695 = China

740-745 = Central America

885= Thailand

888 = Singapore

899 = Indonesia

955 = Malaysia

Having this information helps parents understand where their child’s clothes or toys are coming from and allowing parents to make more cautious choices when purchasing these items for their child.  If you would like to see the full list of country codes, visit http://www.gs1.org/barcodes/support/prefix_list

Interesting Reads:

Bloomberg.com, Toys `R’ Us Asia Removes China-Made Products Containing Lead

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aAlDU0WQlGXI&refer=asia

MSNBC, Mattel issues new massive China Toy Recall

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20254745/

Health, Safety and Environmental Fact Sheet on Lead Exposure

http://legacy.usw.org/usw/program/adminlinks/docs/HSE-FS_Fact%20Sheet%20on%20Lead.pdf

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