GS1 Databar Barcode

DataBar barcodes are often used to label fresh foods. These barcodes can hold information like an item’s batch number or expiry date, in addition to other attributes used at the point-of-sale, such as the item weight.

Formerly known as Reduced Space Symbology (RSS-14), GS1 DataBar is a family of symbols most commonly seen in the GS1 DataBar Coupon.

It is a relatively new bar code symbology formally adopted by the global supply chain in January 2011.

All GS1 DataBar barcodes encode a GTIN-12 or GTIN-13 in a 14-digit data structure. The GS1 DataBar can carry all 14 digits of a manufacture’s GTIN and is more than 50% smaller than the typical UPC and EAN symbols.

The symbology is formally defined as ISO/IEC 24724:2006.

DataBar barcodes have been utilized to solve many POS, grocery, and healthcare problems, where additional information needs to be encoded, such as product weight, expiration dates, country of origin or serial numbers, or where items are too small to allow for traditional barcode types.

GS1 DataBar was endorsed and adopted by GS1 and was expected to be the next major barcode symbology used on many trade items. There was a sunrise date in 2010 for all trade scanning systems to read GS1 DataBar barcodes.