Don't want to buy if "Made in China?" Here's how

A local friend and I have noticed it is becoming difficult to find the "Made in China" notice on pet treats. And maybe you want to avoid children's items or groceries made there. So when I received this in email, thought I'd share:

Subject: How to read barcodes

GREAT WAY TO "BUY USA & CANADA AND NOT FROM CHINA!!
This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you.

The whole world is afraid of China-made "black hearted goods".

Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China ?

If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690, 691 or692, the product is MADE IN CHINA .

471 is Made in Taiwan .

This is our right to know, but the government and related departments never educate the public, therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves.

Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products "MADE IN CHINA ", so they don't show from which country it is made.

However, you may now refer to the barcode, remember if the first 3 digits are:

690-692 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA .
00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA
30 - 37 ... FRANCE
40 - 44 ... GERMANY
47 .... Taiwan
49 ... JAPAN
50 ... UK

BUY USA & CANADIAN MADE by watching
for "0" at the beginning of the number.

Snopes says this is a mixture of true and false info:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/barcodes.asp

duh, I should have checked. Thanks!

I don't know what it is like in the US, but here it is really hard to find anything that is not made in china, i do try and stay away from food products though, but most of our clothes are made there, even the more expensive ones,really bothers me, but what can you do, by buying them i feel we are supporting the low wages they pay their people, but if you cannot buy anything else, what choice do you have.