Want to avoid food poisoned with Melamine ?
To tell whether it is made in China or not, look at the barcode
Do you know that in the absence of a package label stating what country a particular product was made in, you could always consult the product's package barcode to determine this missing piece of important information?
Last year, China made it to the world headlines a number of times courtesy of their substandard and contaminated products. Products ranging from lead-painted toys, toxic toothpaste, chemical-laden seafood, unsafe tires, and counterfeited medicines among others were have to be recalled because of the risks they pose to their consumer's health and welfare.
And this year, China have once again proved to the world that its really a headline superstar when it comes to unsafe products, thanks to its Melamine tainted milk that has already killed a number of babies and hospitalized thousands more.
Have you noticed how many products don't have packaging labels stating what country they're made from? I'm not sure if this practice is intentionally done by nasty manufacturers trying to hide something. But its really quite disappointing to find out, after looking at all sides of a box of cookies, that there's no Manufactured from label.
The answer is not in the box, its in the barcode
This is actually a very easy step to do. By simply looking at the barcode and checking the first 3 digits, you would know a product's point of origin.
Products made from China begin at numbers 690 - 695.
Meanwhile, products made from the Philippines start at 480.
Below is a complete list of the different Universal Product Code prefix numbers assigned for different countries.