Support our growers, farmers and what’s left of our manufacturers. To be sure of buying Australian made and produced food, look at the barcode at the bottom. Don’t be fooled by things like ‘Manufactured in New Zealand.’ Often it might be put in a tin or packet in NZ but the FOOD contents come from China.

There are no food inspection regulations on foods grown or processed in China, Vietnam, Hong Kong or Thailand.

The first three digits of the barcode is the country code where the product was made. Example: all barcodes that start with 690; 691 through to 699 are all made in China. 471 is made in Taiwan. Hong Kong is now part of China don’t forget. AUSTRALIA’s bar code starts with 93.

Here’s the list:

00 ~ 13       USA and Canada
30 ~ 37       France
40 ~ 44      Germany
49 ~            Japan
50 ~            UK
57 ~            Denmark
64 ~            Finland
76 ~            Switzerland and Liechtenstein
93 ~            Australia
628 ~          Saudi Arabia
629 ~          United Arab Emirates
740-745 ~  Central America
All 480 codes are made in the Philippines.

Remember if a product’s barcode (the number under those black lines they run over the scanner in the checkout) starts with 93 then it’s Australian, so safe to buy!

EDIT June 2015:

And in Reply. . .

Thanks to those who wrote and corrected our story on “Buy Australian.”

Sadly the 903 at the start of barcodes on products does not guarantee that it is all Australian grown, made and
packaged. While the first three digits do not signify what country the product was manufactured in or origin of its contents, they do indicate the country in which the company is based. This means, the company is headquartered, or has an office in that location, but  the product could have been made in another country.

Since a company has to apply for a GS1 prefix, they simply state where they are located to receive their prefix, and can choose to manufacture their product anywhere in the world.

The 903 story has spread everywhere, even the CWA passed a resolution to look for 903 on products!

It just shows the public are keen to support our Aussie growers and manufacturers. What we need is proper clear and honest labeling on all items!