I am one of those pet lovers that take great care to make sure that my dog has the best of food. The thought of him becoming ill or dying due to contaminated food is so horrifying that I very carefully read every label and want to make sure that not only are there healthy ingredients but that it is made in the USA.
Recently, I received an email that contained a chart for deciphering the EAN bar codes on dog food to determine the country where a product is made. It sounded like a great solution to me so I decided to do a little more research.
Wow, am I glad that I did! I found that this is an urban legend. According to Snopes.com, the determination of product origins is more complex than simply looking at an EAN (European Article Number) bar code and correlating it to a country code chart. The 3-digit prefix in an EAN bar code indicates the country where the bar code was assigned. This is not necessarily the country where the product originated. The example that snopes.com gives is: if a Mexican company imported fruit from Guatemala, then packed and shipped the fruit to the United States, the final product’s EAN would likely indicate an origination in Mexico and not Guatemala.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration mandates country-of-origin labeling on many food products, but this does not apply to pet food. Consumer groups are currently advocating the closure of this and other loopholes.
Therefore, for now, I will continue to scan the ingredients and labels and will follow the old adage of “Let the Buyer Beware”.