Glass and fork symbol
The item is made for contact with food. This is the symbol in EU law, Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004.
Easily confused with
How to read it
It is the one common kitchen mark with a legal standard behind it. Article 15 of the EU regulation on food contact materials says that materials and articles sold before they touch food must carry the words “for food contact”, a specific indication of their use (it gives coffee machine, wine bottle and soup spoon as examples), or the glass and fork symbol reproduced in Annex II. The symbol is optional. The Finnish Food Authority says it is not compulsory but highly recommended because consumers know it well. Articles plainly meant for food don’t need it at all: Bosch gives packaging as the example.
Also searched as: cup and fork symbol, food grade symbol, food safe symbol, glass and fork symbol, wine glass and fork symbol.
These describe what each mark means and who defines it. Most are makers’ own icons rather than a standard, and the same mark can mean slightly different things on different brands. What a particular dish, pan or container can be used for is set by its maker, in its care and use instructions.
Where the symbol came from
The symbol is older than the regulation. Commission Directive 80/590/EEC of 9 June 1980 introduced it, and the 2004 regulation took it over. In 1994 the US Food and Drug Administration, writing its rule on decorative ceramics, described the goblet and fork as the symbols used in the United Kingdom for materials meant to come into contact with food.
What it doesn’t say
The mark says the material is suitable for food. It doesn’t say the item can go in a dishwasher, microwave or oven. The regulation asks for any special instructions for safe use to be given separately, and the Finnish Food Authority says any limits on temperature, type of food or contact time have to be stated.
Look-alikes
The dishwasher safe mark often has a wine glass too, but with water falling on it and no fork. A glass and fork inside a circle with a bar across them is the not for food use symbol.
Read next
- Next in Kitchenware symbolsNot for food useThe item is not meant to hold or serve food. In the US, the glass and fork in a circle with a diagonal bar is the symbol FDA allows on decorative ceramics.
- The same shape in Morse codeMorse code punctuationMorse code has its own signals for punctuation: the full stop is ·−·−·−, the comma −−··−−, the question mark ··−−·· and the slash −··−·. ITU-R M.1677-1 lists them all, including the @ sign (·−−·−·).
More kitchenware symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines.
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004, European Parliament and Council of the European Union (EUR-Lex), Recital 23; Article 15(1)–(2); footnote 6
- Sale and labelling of food contact materials and articles, Finnish Food Authority (Ruokavirasto), Questions on the cup and fork symbol
- Dishwasher symbols, Bosch Home Appliances (BSH Hausgeräte), Food safe symbol
- Requirements for Decorative Ceramicware To Be Deemed Not for Food Use (final rule), 59 FR 1638 (12 January 1994), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Federal Register), Comment 2
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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