THE SCIENCE BEHIND STRIPED TOOTHPASTE (AND WHY THE COLOR-CODE MYTH IS FALSE)

Ever wondered how toothpaste can come out of a tube in those perfectly defined stripes without everything mixing together?

The trick is formulation and controlled flow.
Striped toothpaste contains differently colored formulations that are designed to flow out together. Because toothpaste is thick and has carefully controlled viscosity and rheology, the different portions don't immediately blend when you squeeze the tube.

As pressure is applied, the formulations are pushed toward the opening at the same time. They come out together while maintaining their separation  creating those familiar stripes on your toothbrush. 

And no, the colors don't have some universal secret meaning.
You've probably seen claims like:

🟢 Green = Natural
🔵 Blue = Natural + Medicine
🔴 Red = Natural + Chemicals
⚫ Black = Chemicals

That's a myth.
Those color codes are commonly confused with the small colored marks found near the sealed end of toothpaste tubes. Those marks are manufacturing/optical registration marks used by packaging machinery — they aren't telling you what's inside the toothpaste.

So, what do the toothpaste stripes actually mean?
Usually, they're simply part of the product's formulation, appearance and design.
If you want to know what's actually inside your toothpaste, don't decode the colors.

Read the ingredients on the package.
Sometimes the simplest-looking things involve surprisingly precise engineering.