in the serial field; GTIN is 14 digits
in the serial field; GTIN is 14 digits
The main difference between dairy marking and packaged water is the structure of the code itself. Dairy usually has a shorter serial section.
In the published dairy structure, the code uses a 14-digit GTIN, a 6-character serial number and a verification block under 93. Variable-weight products may include additional weight information.
Because the string is often shorter, the matrix can also be smaller than the one typically used on packaged water.
This is important in practice because a damaged dairy code should not be analysed with exactly the same assumptions as a water code.
If a dairy product does not scan at checkout, it helps to send the damaged marking plus the product’s linear barcode. That allows the correct product-specific template to be used.
So product-group differences are not theoretical; they directly improve the quality of specialised reading.