- Health
Colored squares on toothpaste tubes guide machines during production, aren’t secret codes for ingredients
Key takeaway
Toothpaste ingredients generally contain at least a few basic components. These include a mild abrasive, which helps remove debris and surface stains; humectants, which reduce water loss that would otherwise cause toothpaste to dry out; and detergent, which helps clean teeth and is responsible for toothpaste foam. Toothpaste is generally safe when used as directed. However, it’s not meant to be eaten. Ingesting large quantities of toothpaste can cause stomach upset, although long-term repercussions are unlikely.
Reviewed content
Verdict:
Claim:
Blocks of color printed on toothpaste tubes indicate whether the toothpaste is made of safe ingredients
Verdict detail
Incorrect: Colored squares printed at the ends of toothpaste tubes aren’t a secret code for the safety of toothpaste ingredients. Instead, they allow light sensors on the toothpaste production line to recognize the end of the tube, so that tubes can be filled, cut, and sealed correctly.
Full Claim
“You ever hear the toothpaste theory? You know how the toothpaste at the bottom [...] there’s always like a block of color [...] The elites or the people that know the code stay away from certain colors of the toothpaste”; “If you have the green on your toothpaste, it means it’s all natural; if you have the blue, it says(sic) it’s natural plus medicine; if it has red, it’s natural with chemical; if it has black, it’s all chemical [...] If you were part of some, like, secret organization, across the world when you go to buy products, how are you supposed to know which one’s safe for you?”
Review
The claim that toothpaste tubes carry a secret code about the safety of toothpaste ingredients has circulated on social media platforms for years. One recent instance of this claim can be traced back to a January 2024 episode of the podcast Jumpers Jump. The podcast has more than 12 million followers on TikTok. A clip of the episode on TikTok received more than three million views. In May 2024, a clip of the same podcast was uploaded to Facebook, attracting more than a million views.
Other posts on TikTok, receiving tens of thousands of views, also promoted iterations of the same claim (see here and here).
In the clip, TikTok celebrity and podcast host Carlos Juico claimed that color blocks at the end of toothpaste tubes indicated whether the toothpaste ingredients were natural or “chemical”. More specifically, he asserted that a green color block meant the toothpaste was all-natural; a blue color block meant the toothpaste was “natural plus medicine”; and a black color block meant the toothpaste was “all chemical”.
Juico also invoked conspiracy theories about the Illuminati and the New World Order, claiming the color code was meant to help a shadowy group of powerful “elites” know “which one’s safe”. The bottom line of this claim is that harmful toothpaste is being knowingly sold to the general population.
However, this conspiracy theory ascribing a nefarious plot to the blocks of color printed on toothpaste tubes is baseless.
As toothpaste manufacturer Colgate explains in this article, these blocks of color allow light sensors to recognize the end of a toothpaste tube so it can be filled, cut, and sealed correctly. Toothpaste manufacturing is largely automated and mechanized, as this CNN video demonstrates. Since humans aren’t involved in the production line—meaning inspecting the tubes by eye isn’t possible—the color blocks are necessary so that machines on the production line can correctly detect the orientation of the tubes.
Juico’s claim also implied that “natural” ingredients are safer and better than “chemical” ingredients, an example of the logical fallacy known as appeal to nature. This is also incorrect. Firstly, chemicals don’t only exist in human-made things; they also exist in nature as well. For example, ascorbic acid, better known as Vitamin C, is present in many fruits like oranges and is essential for preventing scurvy. Similarly, honey contains a variety of chemicals like organic acids.
Secondly, the fact that something occurs naturally doesn’t make it inherently safe or healthy. Snake venom and mercury are both naturally-occurring, but neither is safe.
The American Dental Association explains that toothpaste ingredients can differ from brand to brand, but there are generally a few basic components. These include a mild abrasive, which helps remove debris and surface stains; humectants, which reduce water loss that would otherwise cause toothpaste to dry out; and detergent, which helps clean teeth and is responsible for toothpaste foam.
Fluoride is also a typical toothpaste ingredient used to ward off cavities (holes in teeth). Cavities can occur when bacteria in the mouth break down food, producing acid that wears down the outer surface of teeth over time. But fluoride binds to the surface of teeth and draws calcium and phosphate to the surface, thus strengthening teeth and preventing cavities. Fluoride has long been a subject of health misinformation; Science Feedback covered fluoride-related claims here, here and here.
Toothpaste is generally safe when used as directed. However, it’s not meant to be eaten. Ingesting large quantities of toothpaste can cause stomach upset, although long-term repercussions are unlikely.
In summary, the conspiracy theory that toothpaste tubes carry a secret color code indicating the safety of toothpaste ingredients is baseless. If people wish to know which ingredients are present in their toothpaste, they can simply read the ingredient list printed on toothpaste packaging.
