Toothpaste

In this guide we give the big toothpaste brands and the small independents a checkup to see if they need to brush up on their ethics. 

We reviewed and rated 29 brands and found a huge difference in overall scores, with some of the big well-known brands and high street shops barely scoring very poorly, while some eco-friendly brands scored almost full marks. We have also added five new brands to the guide in the 2026 update: Ben & Anna, Dr Bronner's, Ecodenta, Parla and White & Green. 

Which are the biggest toothpaste brands?

The biggest names are Colgate with its many toothpaste varieties, and Oral-B (Procter & Gamble). A competitor though is Haleon, which spun off from pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, as a new joint venture with Pfizer, both of whom have now exited the business. Haleon owns Sensodyne, as well as Aquafresh, Biotene, Corsodyl and Macleans.

Are there natural toothpaste brands?

Aside from the big players, there are a host of other smaller companies that specialise in vegan, organic, and ‘natural’ cosmetics and toiletries.

Natural products generally claim to avoid preservatives, artificial sweeteners, artificial colours, additives, or synthetic flavours and fragrances. But, as there is no legal definition of the term ‘natural’, it could be used to mean virtually anything (unless a product is certified ‘natural’ by a third party, such as COSMOS or NATRUE). So be sceptical!

The following brands were certified natural:

• Natrue: Ben & Anna, Dr Hauschka, Lavera, Weleda
• COSMOS Organic: Dr Organic, Ecodenta, Green People, Lavera, Urtekram, White & Green.
• COSMOS Natural: Georganics

What about finding an ethical mouthwash?

Many of the companies in this guide also make mouthwash with the same brand name, apart from mouthwash brand leader Listerine which is owned by Johnson & Johnson. 

Can you avoid plastic tubes when buying toothpaste?

Plastic-based toothpaste tubes have always been a problem for the ethical consumer because they are typically made of a mixture of plastic and aluminium which makes them hard to recycle.

Increasingly, the tubes are being made of HDPE plastic, which is, in theory, recyclable. Most manufacturers are working towards all their toothpaste tube ranges being recyclable.

If your tube has a recycling symbol with the number 2 in it, then it is made from recyclable HDPE. But check to see whether your local authority recycles them. Some local authorities still don’t accept them in household recycling, even though they are made of recyclable HDPE like your milk bottles and shampoo bottles which are accepted.

If your local authority doesn’t accept HDPE tubes, take them to the Recycle at Boots scheme which takes a range of other hard-to-recycle toiletry and cosmetic products including make-up. 

Lush pots have been made from 100% recycled polypropylene since 2008 and can be returned to shops for recycling.

Plastic-free toothpaste alternatives

While recycling is an improvement, it does not adequately address the problem with plastic packaging.

Plastic is a petrochemical product which cannot be infinitely recycled, so virgin plastic will continue to be produced, thereby maintaining demand for the oil industry.

Single-use plastics need to be banned, but until that has happened you could choose plastic-free packaging for toothpaste:

• Glass jars (toothpaste tablets or powder)
• Aluminium tubes and tins (toothpaste)
• Compostable packets (often for tablets) (although there are problems with compostable material)

Both glass and aluminium are widely recycled and can be recycled indefinitely.

Some of the high-scoring brands available in plastic-free packaging were:

• Georganics – toothpaste, powder, and tablets in glass jars, and toothpaste in recycled aluminium tubes
• Parla – toothpaste in aluminium tubes, or tablets in a jar.
• Truthpaste – toothpaste in a glass jar.
• White & Green – toothpaste in a glass jar. 

Dr Hauschka and Weleda were previously identified as using aluminium tubes (Dr Hauschka’s being recycled), but it was now unclear.

Four brands using glass and aluminium tins (Georganics, Parla, Truthpaste, and White & Green) are expensive relative to some of the major brands. This is partly because they are very small companies that don’t benefit from the same economies of scale. But also because the low price of plastic packaging does not properly reflect the wider cost of plastic production and use, such as environmental pollution and carbon emissions.

Bulk refills of tooth tablets can work out cheaper. Powders and tablets also have the additional benefit of being waterless, just like solid shampoo bars, so there are fewer carbon emissions linked to their production and transportation.

Vegan toothpaste

The most common animal by-products found in toothpaste are:

• Glycerin. Also listed as glycerine or glycerol, this sticky liquid helps keep the toothpaste moist. Glycerin can be derived from both animals and plants so we recommend checking a product is clearly labelled as ‘vegan.’
• Bee products. Propolis, bee pollen, and beeswax are all common ingredients used in natural oral care products.

The only way to be sure that you are avoiding animal products is by buying vegan products. Fortunately, there are lots of vegan toothpaste products available.  

Some of the bigger brand names may market some of their products as vegan, but the companies that make them use animal products in other parts of their business. For example, Superdrug sells own-brand varieties which are vegan, but has many other products in its range which are not vegan.

The following brands are from companies which are fully vegan or vegetarian.

Ben & Anna’s was also vegan but it was not clear if its wider company group was. Weleda personal care products were all suitable for vegetarians, and many were vegan, but it was not clear if the wider company group was vegetarian.

Cruelty-free toothpaste

Cruelty-free products refers to animal testing policies. Note that it does not mean that a product is necessarily vegan, as it can still include animal products. 

The following brands scored well for their animal testing policy for being certified as cruelty free or operating a ‘fixed cut-off date’ (FCOD, a date after which none of their products or ingredients will have been tested on animals):

• Ben & Anna
• Dr Bronner’s
• Dr Hauschka
• Green People
• JASÖN
• Kingfisher
• Lavera
• LUSH
• Parla
• Truthpaste
• Weleda

A couple of companies were found to have a cruelty-free policy and state they do not test ingredients or products on animals, but they are not certified and don't have a FCOD:

• Georganics
• Urtekram
• White & Green

For some brands it was not clear whether there might be animal testing in the wider company group:

• Dr Hauschka
• Dr Organic
• Ecodenta
• A.Vogel

Most of the big named brands scored poorly for animal policies e.g. Boots scored 0 and Superdrug 30 (out of 100).

Organic toothpaste brands

To ensure that the ingredients used to make your toothpaste have been produced in a way that minimises damage to the environment and biodiversity, opt for a toothpaste that is certified organic. Organic certification ensures that the agricultural ingredients are grown without the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. We have a separate article on ethical labels for organic certification schemes.

The following brands sold certified organic varieties:

• Dr Hauschka (90% organic company)
• Green People (90% organic company)
• Lavera (100% organic company)
• Urtekram (100% organic brand)
• Weleda (80% organic company)
• White & Green (majority organic company)

A.Vogel was not organic certified but stated it grew most of its herbs itself under organic conditions in Switzerland.  

Are there palm oil free toothpastes?

Palm oil and its derivatives are found in a vast number of cosmetics and food products. In toothpaste it is often used as a dispersant, and can appear under many names.

The unsustainable production of palm oil is one of the biggest threats to the forests and wildlife of areas where it’s grown, like Borneo and Sumatra. Palm oil production is continuing to spread to other countries like the Philippines, Nigeria, and throughout South America.

Deforestation is a major environmental crisis and a leading cause of climate change globally. Some organisations advocate for a complete boycott of palm oil while others point out that it has the highest yield of all oils, therefore whatever it is replaced with will require larger areas to grow.

We rated all the companies in this guide for their palm oil policies. 

The following brands were palm oil free:

• Ben & Anna
• Parla
• Truthpaste
• White & Green

Other brands which scored highest in the palm oil rating category were companies using fair trade palm oil, organic palm oil, or segregated palm derivatives.

These were: Dr Bronner’s, Green People, Urtekram.

You can read more about palm oil and the cosmetics industry in our separate article. 

Price comparison of toothpaste brands

We have compared a couple of high scoring brands to the best selling varieties from brand leaders Colgate, Sensodyne and Oral-B. The table shows cost per 100ml.

The stand-out observation is that high scoring brand Kingfisher, is comparable price-wise to Colgate. You don’t always have to pay more to buy ethically!

Plus, the big brands have many varieties at varying prices. For example, on the Superdrug website, Sensodyne has 23 different varieties listed ranging from £3.40 per 100 ml to £15.99 per 100ml.

* Prices are from Superdrug, Boots, and company websites (late summer 2026).

Buy toothpaste from independent shops if you can

It is now possible to find some of the higher scoring brands in mainstream shops – for example Superdrug stocks Dr Bronner, Urtekram and White & Green. Parla is also available from Boots, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado. However, Superdrug and Boots, both in this guide as own-brand toothpaste, score poorly on our table, so if it's possible for you, buy from a local independent shop.

For example, Green Woman, the company behind White & Green, has a postcode finder on its website where you can find its stockists which include independent health food shops, refill shops and eco centres.