# Is your food from China? How to tell



## used2bcool13

This was forwarded to me from my parents, usually a good source of info, and the first people I wanted to tell were you guys, my HT friends. I knew you would appreciate this info.


This is very interesting & good to know 

I am going to watch those bar codes a LOT more now... I am busy reading the ingredients.. 
Boy.. shopping is a full time job!!! 

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 labels at the grocery store and especially Walmart when buying food products.

Many products no longer show where they were made, only give where the 
distributor is located. It is important to read the bar code to track it's origin. 

How to read Bar Codes... interesting!
This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you. GREAT WAY TO "BUY USA" AND NOT FROM CHINA !!



The whole world is afraid of China-made "black hearted goods".

Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China ?

If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690, 691 
or 692, the product is MADE IN CHINA .

471 is Made in Taiwan . 

This is our right to know, but the government
and related departments never educate the
public, therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves.

Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that
consumers do not prefer products "MADE IN 
CHINA", so they don't show from which
country it is made. 

However, you may now refer to the barcode -
remember if the first 3 digits are:

690-692 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA
00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA
30 - 37 ... FRANCE
40 - 44 ... GERMANY
471 ... Taiwan
49 .. JAPAN
50 .. UK


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## tab

Just curious, did you check this out on snopes.com?


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## jessepona

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/barcodes.asp

A mix of helpful and unhelpful.

How nice would it be if all foods had to be labeled with their country of origin?


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## TacticalTrout

jessepona said:


> http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/barcodes.asp
> 
> A mix of helpful and unhelpful.
> 
> How nice would it be if all foods had to be labeled with their country of origin?


I wish that this had been part of the food safety bill that they passed. Problem is, though, China would frown upon that idea.


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## MO_cows

Country of origin labeling, or COOL, is mandatory on meat products. Except where the meat is just an ingredient. So, pick up a package of stew meat, they have to tell you where it came from. Buy a can of beef stew, you'll never know. 

And even before the meat labeling was made mandatory, canned goods already said product of USA, Mexico, China or whatever. I always thought it was required, too. I think that if it just says "distributed by", it is a U.S. product or else it has multiple ingredients so is exempt.


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## oregon woodsmok

The bar code number sort of works. But unfortunately, it is not where the product was manufactured. It is the country where the company's headquarters incorporated and requested the bar code number. (country the number was issued in)

So you can have an American company, with their headquarters in the USA, that has fish canned in China and shipped to the USA and the bar code will be issued stating it is from the USA.


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## cc

oregon woodsmok said:


> The bar code number sort of works. But unfortunately, it is not where the product was manufactured. It is the country where the company's headquarters incorporated and requested the bar code number. (country the number was issued in)
> 
> So you can have an American company, with their headquarters in the USA, that has fish canned in China and shipped to the USA and the bar code will be issued stating it is from the USA.


This seems kind of sneaky so is there really any way to tell where the item comes from?


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## fffarmergirl

Food from China! Seriously!!! We've got millions & millions of acres of perfectly good farm land right here in the US and we're not growing anything on it, & we're shipping food clear from the other sideof the world! Honestly - we're about to get what we have coming to us for being so stupid!! Millions of unemployed people could be farming all of this land organically & there wouldn't be any shortage.


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## MichaelK!

Just picked two bottles of Chinese condiments out of the frig. Both declare they are products of China. Their bar codes however start with 788 and 932. Doesn't look like just reading the bar code tells the whole story.


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## nduetime

Rats! I do not buy many ready made food products and always buy US for produce. I was hoping to have a new insight. Back to the drawing board.


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## suitcase_sally

Not much US produce this time of year.


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## Belfrybat

> However, you may now refer to the barcode -
> remember if the first 3 digits are:
> 
> 690-692 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA
> 00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA
> 30 - 37 ... FRANCE
> 40 - 44 ... GERMANY
> 471 ... Taiwan
> 49 .. JAPAN
> 50 .. UK


I don't think this really works. I pulled a can of VanCamp's tuna off the shelf -- starts with 480, a can of evaporated milk -- starts with 154, and a can of Hunt's tomatoes -- starts with 270. So, since those numbers are not listed, does that mean these products are not made anywhere?


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## used2bcool13

Much to my embarrassment it is a hoax, and it is on snopes. I did forward that to my parents also.

ps they also sent my the Ginger Rogers Dancing at 92 also a hoax on snopes, apparently Ginger died at 85.

Sorry! Maybe this thread can be removed to avoid confusion.

My intentions were good, dear friends


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## kvr28

here's something that's not fake.

my wife and I own a small restaurant and one of the items we use is IQF spinach. we pay about 45 dollars a case for 12 3 pound bricks of spinach, I order food twice a week, and always do price comparisons between 3 companies. I found a grade A spinach, packed 12 3 pounders for 25 dollars. I ordered it. The next day the deliveries came, and I started putting items away. I opened the case of spinach, and the first thing I noticed was the produce were packed in plastic bags, and most of them were showing freezer burn, the second thing I noticed was stamped on the bag, product of china. I looked at the driver and said are you kidding me, how the heck can they produce spinach and ship it half way around the world for half the price, I made him take it back.


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## nduetime

suitcase_sally said:


> Not much US produce this time of year.


What I do not grow and preserve myself, I buy at the local farmer's market (usually from my own uncle) and preserve. Definately not much fresh stuff this time of the year but we manage with our freezer and canned foods.


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