We've been using the barcode for 50 years!

The barcode technology we now take for granted has been in use for exactly 50 years today. On 26 June 1974, the way we shop changed forever when the first product - a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum - was scanned at Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, USA. The barcode was actually the first system to use graphic symbols to store information.

In 1977, the equivalent of the US system, known as the EAN standard, was created in Europe and 21 years later it was decided to merge the two standards to create one global system, leading to the creation of the GS1 system in use today.

You can find out more about this amazing technology HERE.