what does this symbol mean?

Packaging symbols

The marks printed on packaging, from the colour squares on a toothpaste tube to the dates and quantities on labels.

About packaging symbols

Packaging symbols are the marks printed on a package itself rather than on the product inside. This section has seven: five set by European law, among them the ℮ beside the weight, one from a charity and one from the production line. Each page says what the mark means, who sets it and what it is often confused with.

Cosmetics: the open jar, the hourglass and the hand

Three symbols on cosmetics come from Annex VII of the EU Cosmetics Regulation (Regulation 1223/2009), which also remains in UK law. Article 19 decides which one a product carries. A product that keeps for 30 months or less shows a date after the hourglass, or after the words “best used before the end of”. A product that keeps for longer shows the open jar with the number of months it can be used once opened, such as 12M. The hand pointing at an open book means the precautions or the ingredients are on an enclosed or attached leaflet, label, tape, tag or card.

Food and quantity

The wine glass and fork is the symbol in Annex II of Regulation 1935/2004 for items meant to come into contact with food; Article 15 allows the words “for food contact” instead. The ℮ comes from Directive 76/211/EEC: a small e at least 3 mm high beside the quantity, the packer’s guarantee that the packs hold, on average, no less than the amount stated.

Marks for machines and for litter

An eye mark, like the coloured square on a toothpaste tube, lets a sensor tell the sealing machine when and where to seal and cut. Its colour carries no information about what is in the package, whatever rumours say: Dubai Municipality and Snopes have both said so. Tidyman, a figure dropping litter in a bin, is Keep Britain Tidy’s trademark and a reminder not to litter. Worcestershire County Council points out that it isn’t a recycling symbol. The marks that do concern recycling, the Möbius loop and the Green Dot, are in Recycling symbols.

Sources

  1. How to ensure the eye mark on tube packaging works well?, Auber Packaging Co., Ltd.
  2. Dubai Municipality allays toothpaste tube mark scare, 10 August 2016, Gulf News
  3. Do Color Codes on Toothpaste Tubes Identify Their Ingredients?, Fact check, Snopes
  4. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, Article 19, Article 19 (Labelling), legislation.gov.uk (UK Government), Article 19(1)(c) and 19(2)
  5. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, Annex VII, Annex VII (Symbols used on packaging/container), legislation.gov.uk (UK Government), Annex VII
  6. Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, Article 15, Article 15 (Labelling), legislation.gov.uk (UK Government), Article 15(1)(a)
  7. Council Directive 76/211/EEC on prepackaged products, Annex I, Annex I, 3. Inscriptions and markings, legislation.gov.uk (UK Government), Annex I, 1.1 and 3.3
  8. Recycling symbols explained, Let's waste less, Worcestershire County Council, Tidyman

Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research