The barcode does not determine the origin of the product. This is how the OCU has today denied the hoax that has appeared on social networks and the Internet, in which it is said that the first two digits of this numerical reference indicate the country from which the food comes and that, in the case of Spain, it is would deal – wrongly – with the number 84.
In a statement, the Organization of Consumers and Users explains the system by which each unique code for supermarket products is created to reject this erroneous theory. Barcodes, details the OCU, are “a coding system that is used only for the logistics management of the product.” The numerical reference for food is provided by the GS1 organization, with subsidiaries in different countries around the world, and which in Spain is identified with the number 84.
Therefore, the 84 that appears in the barcodes of some products only determines that it was the GS1 company based in Spain that has assigned that barcode to products that may have been manufactured both in this country – and with domestic or imported ingredients – as well as abroad, a statement that has been confirmed by the same subsidiary.
By law, the foods that must indicate the country of origin on their label are fruits and vegetables, eggs, meat, fresh fish and seafood, olive oil, mineral water, honey, nuts and dairy products with at least 50% milk.
