Bar Codes And More

By Keren Kipfer


In the United States, you can find bar codes printed in our food products when you look for them on the side of the packaging. They are usually located at the back side of a product. These bar codes are not placed just to make it easier for store checkers to easily add up the cost of your total grocery bill. They also have several other important purposes and let us discuss some of them.

Another common name for a bar code is UPC code, which stand for Universal Product Code. The UCC or the Uniform Code Council is the organization that originated it. At the bottom of these codes you can find several numbers while the bar is labeled in a normal black bar on a white background print. The number portion provides helpful information for vendors and customers but some parts of the code can only be read with a specific machine or scanner.

Any standard UPC code contains a manufacturer identification number which is composed of a 12-digit code. The first six digits indicate who manufactured the product and then the next five digits of the code indicate the actual product. The final number is known as a check digit and if you enter all the previous numbers together in a special mathematical formula, the end result should be this check digit. To avoid using the same code on more than one product, a UPC coordinator is required in which they retire these codes as these products are removed from shelves.

Sodas, pastas, tomato sauces and the millions of other products we buy usually have number codes 0,1,6,7 and 8 which represent most of the products in a grocery store that are manufactured by companies such as Kraft, Coca-Cola, Kellogg's or any other manufacturer. On the other hand, items sold by weight, such as meat and vegetables or fruit feature a 2. A number 3 is for different for medicine and other pharmaceutical items the numbers 4, 5, or 9 are placed on coupons.

You may notice on the packaging of different food products that bar codes are not the only ones printed. The batch number and expiration date are included and manufacturers print them also. They use a special kind of printer, an ID coder to do this. This machine also is called an ID printer. In the market you can find many brands of coders that are available such as Altima coders, Domino coders, Maxima coders, Imaje coders and many more. Expiration dates can help one determine if these products are safe for consumption or use and it should not be overlooked.

In order for your ID coders or printers to function properly they will require very high quality types of inks and fluids. While these items certainly can be purchased directly from the company that produced your coder, these name brand inks are very expensive and this is a cost you incur again and again. So it is wise to find a company that caters to those with product ID coders. They create quality generic versions of inks for all brands of coders. You can purchase Altima ink, Domino ink or any other brand for much less than retail price.




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