Just passing on some information shared recently on facebook about origins of stuff - and how we can tell where they came from given that companies often want to hide this. With recent illness and death coming from many Chinese products, it is good to be able to know the country of origin. And of course, this extends to pet things and pet food - many thousands of pets have died as a result of pet food or pet food ingredients coming from China. Not sure how reliable this information is, but for what it's worth, this is apparently what a BARCODE reveals about country of origin:
HOW TO READ BAR CODES... (everyone must know)
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 CAREFULLY!
With all the food and pet products now coming from China, it is best to make sure you read label at the supermarket and especially when buying food products. Many products no longer show where they were made, only give where the distributor is located. The whole world is concerned about China-made "black-hearted goods". It is important to read the bar code to track its origin.
If the first 3 digits of the bar code are 690, 691 or 692, the product is MADE IN CHINA.
Remember if the first 3 digits are:
890......MADE IN INDIA
690, 691, 692 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA
00 - 09 ... USA and CANADA
30 - 37 ... FRANCE
40 - 44 ... GERMANY
471 ........ TAIWAN
45 or 49 ........JAPAN
489...........HONG KONG
50 .......... UK
57 .........DENMARK
64..........FINLAND
76.........SWITZERLAND and LIENCHTENSTIEN
628.........SAUDI ARABIA
629.........UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
740..........745 - CENTRAL AMERICA
All 480 Codes are Made in the PHILIPPINES.