Ensuring Barcode Accuracy in Food Packaging

Food packaging serves a versatile role not only in containing and protecting products but also in delivering essential information to consumers. At the same time, packaging is valuable “real estate’ with limited space. Yet consumer demand for information continues to grow and regulatory bodies require high traceability.

Barcodes despite not generally being mandatory by law are still essential for unique identification, preventing duplication, and enhancing inventory and order accuracy. Major retailers such as Amazon, Tesco, Carrefour, Walmart require GS1-standard barcodes for product acceptance and listing within their systems. Using non-GS1 Codes runs the risk of listing rejection, counterfeit allegations and hampers some ecommerce channels.  Against this background, barcodes offer an efficient and effective solution.

History and Benefits of Barcodes in Food Packaging 

The first product to be adorned with the now ubiquitous barcode was a packet of Wrigley chewing gum, apparently scanned at a supermarket checkout in Ohio in 1974 [1]. It was the beginning of a success story, providing many advantages, including:

Efficiency, speed and accuracy

• Faster data entry via scanning (vs. manual typing)
• Speeds up checkout, inventory and tracking processes
• Reduces human error compared to manual data input
• Ensures consistent and reliable product identification

Cost-Effectiveness

• Cheap to implement and print
• Reduces labour costs by automating routine tasks (less manual data entry required)

Traceability, security and authentication

• Tracks products through supply chains securely and accountably
• Enables lot and batch tracking for recalls or quality assurance
• Can be used for anti-counterfeiting, product authentication

Automation, integration and inventory management

• Integrates easily with point of sale (POS) systems, ERP software and databases
• Supports automated sorting, labeling, and shipping
• For real-time tracking of stock levels, simplifying stocktaking, restocking, and auditing

Importance of Barcode Accuracy in Food Labeling and Safety

The role of barcodes in food safety and supply chain efficiency is crucial, as barcodes allow products to be easily and quickly identified, traced transparently in the supply chain, and in cases where a quality issue may jeopardize consumer safety, recalls being managed more efficiently. Furthermore, because barcodes identify products, they can also be used to prevent product counterfeiting and fraud. Nevertheless, a barcode is only as good as its readability when scanned and the accuracy of information it contains. Any inaccuracy or readability flaw brings enormous risk.

Risks associated with barcode inaccuracy

• Product misidentification and supply chain disruptions
  Inaccurate or unreadable barcodes can lead to wrong items being scanned, shipped or stocked, causing delays and dissatisfaction among distributors and customers. It disrupts inventory tracking and order fulfilment and can lead to stock shortages of essential foodstuffs or loss of market share. In serious cases, misidentification can damage consumer health.

• Non-compliance with food safety regulations
  Regulations (like traceability laws) require accurate labeling and tracking of food items, which is generally via barcodes. Illegible codes can lead to inability to trace origin, batch, or expiration dates, which are critical for recalls. Non-compliance can result in fines, costly recalls, or legal action.
  
  
• Financial damage and damaged to reputation
  Barcode errors not only lead to lost sales but also wasted product and product ingredients if the product must be scrapped. Wrong pricing or mislabeling leads to loss of consumer trust in a brand. Repeated errors can damage supplier and partner relationships, affecting long-term business relationships.

EU Regulatory Requirements for Barcodes in Food Packaging

Within the European Union, barcodes are not explicitly required by law for food products. However, the need to ensure traceability throughout the supply chain generally makes the use of barcodes indispensable.

Key regulations governing food in the EU include Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, which sets rules for mandatory food labeling and consumer information. Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 [2], the General Food Law, establishes general principles of food safety and requires traceability at all stages of production, processing and distribution. Additionally, amendments to Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 [3], sometimes referred to as the “EU Wine Labeling Rule,” stipulate ingredient and nutrition declarations for wine and aromatized wine products, along with optional digital labeling (e.g., via QR codes). The rule highlights readability, as well as the need to distinguish clearly mandatory and marketing messaging.

“The operators will have the choice to indicate the list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration either on the physical label of the wine or through a dedicated electronic means, such as a QR code. Allergenic substances will continue to be presented on the physical label as it will be the case now for the energy value. The information provided online should be as clearly visible and accessible to consumers as the information provided on a physical label. The word ‘ingredients’ should be easily identified by consumers in the label and not confused with other electronic means containing marketing messages.” [4]

US Regulatory Requirements for Barcodes in Food Packaging

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not specifically require barcodes on food labels. However, as in the EU, barcodes are widely used in practice to facilitate inventory management, supply chain traceability and product warnings or recalls.

Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) – particularly 21 CFR Part 1, Subpart J – food businesses must comply with the “one step forward, one step back” traceability requirement. This means they must be able to identify the immediate previous source and subsequent recipient of each food product in the supply chain.

Additionally, the FDA finalized a new rule in November 2022 under FSMA Section 204, titled the “Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods.” This rule introduces enhanced traceability requirements for foods listed on the Food Traceability List (FTL) – such as leafy greens, shell eggs, nut butters and soft cheeses. It requires businesses to maintain key data elements (KDEs) for each critical tracking event (CTE; e.g., harvesting, shipping, receiving, modification).

These enhanced traceability requirements were set to become enforceable on January 20, 2026, but the FDA has announced its intention to shift this back 30 months. [5]

In short, as in the EU, barcodes are not mandated but they are generally expected to be used as a practical means of meeting the rule’s electronic recordkeeping and traceability requirements. [6]

In other jurisdictions, both Canada and Australia have similar one-step-forward, one-step-back approaches, and as elsewhere focus on the required information and record-keeping rather than how this is achieved.

Role of GS1

GS1, a global non-profit organization, sets the most widely adopted and accepted standards for product identification, barcoding, and traceability across the food industry and many other sectors. Standards include the GTIN for product IDs encoded in barcodes and EAN/UPC barcode symbologies.

Beyond 1D barcodes like EAN and UPC, GS1 also defines 2D barcode symbologies such as GS1 DataMatrix and GS1 QR Code, which can store more information, making them ideal for enhanced traceability, supply chain transparency and anti-counterfeiting in industries like food and pharmaceuticals.

GS1’s specifications complement and build on standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO 15415 focuses on evaluating 2D barcodes like Data Matrix and QR codes, while ISO 15416 covers 1D barcodes such as UPC and EAN. Both are designed to ensure barcodes meet quality criteria for reliable scanning and supply chain efficiency.

Challenges of Barcode Compliance

Companies face many different challenges in achieving barcode compliance. Regulations are complex and constantly being revised to meet consumer demand for greater transparency and safety. Having knowledgeable, skilled employees onboard, appointing knowledge specialists, and regularly bringing experts together to exchange current knowledge helps meet this challenge and create a strong foundation for compliance. So too does regular training.

Ensuring the consistency of information is another primary challenge, especially in the age of electronic food labeling, where online and physical labeling demands consistency and compliance across different formats. Integrated workflow systems and document comparison tools can solve this easily.

It’s All About Quality and Readability

By far the greatest challenge comes under the general umbrella of barcode quality and readability. An art department, for instance, might not be aware of the numerous aspects of grading and readability, and fall into the trap of making a small, seemingly insignificant change that in fact renders a barcode unreadable. Fortunately, digital barcode verification tools are available to prevent illegible barcodes reaching physical labels.

Best Practices for Barcode Verification

Some key steps to ensure barcode accuracy and readability are:

1. Choose the right barcode type to meet regulatory requirements, purpose, product size, amount of data and supply chain requirements.
2. In doing so, adhere to accepted barcode standards and specifications (GS1, height, quiet zones, etc.).
3. Verify your barcodes digitally, before they are printed on physical labeling.
4. Use high-quality printing appropriate for the product and packaging material.
5. Create physical labeling mock-ups and test these on the product with different scanners.
6. Identify risk points in the workflow and mitigate these risks.