You may have heard about a neat way to determine how “natural” your toothpaste is just by checking out the colored square near the bottom of the tube.
Since last year, a number of different websites claim to have figured out the so-called hidden meaning behind these tiny squares.
According to many outlets, you can find out whether your toothpaste is all-natural or packed with chemicals by the colored square at the bottom of the tube:
- Green: The toothpaste is composed of all-natural ingredients.
- Blue: The toothpaste is fairly natural with added medicinal components.
- Red: The toothpaste is mostly natural but infused with chemicals.
- Black: The toothpaste is completely made up of chemicals.
Sounds like an easy chart to memorize when toothpaste shopping, right? It sure does—except that it’s totally false.
Not only is this idea a complete myth, but the colored squares actually have nothing whatsoever to do with the ingredients inside a tube of toothpaste.
In fact, according to Snopes, these squares are created during the product’s manufacturing process and are known as “eye marks,” or “color marks.”
These printed marks are meant to be read by light beam sensors to identify where the packaging of the toothpaste is supposed to be cut or folded.
The different colors are essentially in place to signify the different types of packaging or sensors used during the manufacturing process.
In many cases, the eye marks may not actually be visible to consumers once the finished product finally hits shelves.
As with any other product, the simplest way to figure out whether or not your toothpaste is “all-natural” is by reading the ingredients on the back of the packaging.
