Food safe symbol (glass and fork)
The item is meant to come into contact with food. It is the European symbol for “for food contact”.
How to read it
The wine glass and fork is the symbol in Annex II of EU Regulation 1935/2004 on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, which also remains in UK law. Under Article 15, such items sold before they have touched food are marked with the words “for food contact”, with a specific indication of their use (the Regulation’s examples are coffee machine, wine bottle and soup spoon), or with this symbol. Items that are clearly meant for food by their nature need none of these.
Also searched as: cup and fork symbol, food contact symbol, food safe symbol, glass and fork symbol, wine glass and fork symbol.
Not compulsory
The Finnish Food Authority calls the symbol voluntary but highly recommended, because consumers know it well; words or another symbol do the same job. Its pages call it both the glass and fork and the cup and fork. Limits on use, such as temperature, the type of food or how long it can stay in contact, have to be given as well, the Authority says.
Read next
- Next in Packaging symbolsTidyman (litter bin symbol)A reminder not to drop litter. It is a trademark of the charity Keep Britain Tidy and says nothing about whether the packaging can be recycled.
- The same shape in African flagsFlag of UgandaUganda’s flag is six horizontal stripes, black, yellow and red repeated, with a white disc in the centre holding a grey crowned crane, the national bird, facing the pole. Uganda’s mission to the United Nations explains the black as Africa’s people, the yellow as the sunshine of an equatorial country and the red as brotherhood with the rest of Africa and the world.
More packaging 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, Article 15, Article 15 (Labelling), legislation.gov.uk (UK Government), Article 15(1)(a) and 15(2)
- Sale and labelling of FCM, Questions and answers, Finnish Food Authority (Ruokavirasto)
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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