21/08/2026
Myth busters!
The coloured squares/stripes on the crimped end of a toothpaste tube do NOT indicate the ingredients or whether the toothpaste is “natural,” “chemical,” or medicinal.
That is a common internet myth. 🦷
What do the colours actually mean?
They are manufacturing marks, sometimes called eye marks. They help the packaging machine detect where to:
cut the tube
fold/crimp the end
position and seal the packaging correctly
The colour is chosen based on what the machine’s optical sensor can easily detect against the tube.
So, for example:
🟩 Green does not mean natural
🟦 Blue does not mean natural + medicinal
🟥 Red does not mean chemical
⬛ Black does not mean “all chemicals”
How do you actually check what's in your toothpaste?
Look at the ingredient list on the tube or box. For oral hygiene, ingredients such as fluoride (e.g. sodium fluoride, sodium monofluorophosphate or stannous fluoride) are much more meaningful than the coloured mark.
