DEAR SUN SPOTS: In response to the Aug. 10 letter about buying American, this great way to buy USA and Canada and not from China may be useful to know when grocery shopping.

The whole world is concerned about China-made “black-hearted” goods. Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China?

If the first three digits of the bar code are 690, 691 or 692, 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 bar code. If the first digits are 00-09, it is made in the USA or Canada, 30-37 France, 40-44 Germany, 471 Taiwan, 49 Japan and 50 the United Kingdom.

Buy USA and Canada made by watching for “0” at the beginning of the number.

We need every boost we can get! Pass this on to everybody on your email contact list. — Rose via email

ANSWER: Once again Sun Spots turned to Mike Norton, director of communications for Hannaford. Mike consulted with his colleague, consumer affairs specialist Alaina Balch, and sent Sun Spots a link to snopes.com (http://tinyurl.com/6sxdmo).

Snopes.com is an Internet fact-checking service. One of the unfortunate aspects of the Internet is its ability to spread misinformation as rapidly as quality news. Many of the urban myths that used to be spread by word of mouth are now flying around the Internet.

Snopes.com says that the bar code method of checking the origin of a product is not reliable:

“Unfortunately, determination of product origins isn’t quite as cut and dried as it’s been made to sound here. The UPC-A bar code and its cousin, the European Article Number bar code, incorporate two- or three-digit country codes, but what those country codes indicate is the country or economic region where a particular bar code was assigned, not necessarily the country where the product identified by the bar code originates.

“For example, if a Mexican company imported fruit from Guatemala, then packed and shipped that fruit to the United States, the country code portion of the final products bar code would likely indicate an origin of Mexico rather than Guatemala. … for surefire product origination identification consumers must rely upon other methods. In determining the country of origin of a product sold in the U.S., consumers should still look for “made in” labels on the packaging.”

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I enjoy reading your column; that’s the first thing I look at every day. You’ve helped me a lot in the past, and I hope you can do it again.

I am looking for knee-high support hose. I’ve looked in all the retail stores, but no luck. The medical supply stores are too expensive. — L.G., Lewiston

ANSWER: Sun Spots just bought two pair herself — one at CVS, the other at RiteAid. They had two kinds. The white anti-embolism version made by Futuro have strong support, but they are not cheap. About $33, Sun Spots recalls. The taupe, moderate support were about $8 or $9.

Neither store carried a wide variety of styles and sizes, but if you know what you want, they can probably order it for you.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: Brian Jordan, 52, of Livermore Falls was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia in March. Brian’s twin brother, Bruce, died of the same leukemia at the age of 17.

Brian was hospitalized in Lewiston and then Boston, finally returning home on July 26 after receiving a stem cell transplant from his sister, but he will not know if it was successful until late October.

Since the transplant he has developed heart problems and must take medications for both conditions. He must travel to Boston weekly for the next year for tests and medications that are not available in Maine. Doctors have told him that he will not be able to resume physical labor due to the heart condition.

A benefit supper for Brian and his family will be held on Aug. 17, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Eaton Memorial United Methodist Church at the Corner of Church and Knapp streets, Livermore Falls.

A variety of summer salads of all types, cold cuts and delicious pies will be served. The cost for the supper is $7 for adults and $3 for children. For more information, call Nancy at 897-5791 or email [email protected]. — No Name via email

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