Tesco customers have been debating about a cross symbol that was spotted on a packet of cocktail sausages – so here’s what it actually means. The explanation makes a lot of sense
Tesco shoppers have been trying to get to the bottom of a cross symbol that sometimes appears on food packaging.
A confused customer took to Reddit to share a picture of the character, which was printed on a packet of pork cocktail sausages. Their post asked: “Does anyone know what this symbol means?”
The post on the Tesco forum garnered more than 650 responses – and prompted many to wade in with amusing suggestions. One joked: “For comedy purposes, I’m going to assume it contains only pigs raised as Christians.”
Another sarcastically wrote: “It certifies that the pigs are dead. Added following customer complaints that their sausages were squealing when eaten.” And a third laughed: “It’s a cross. Pray before you risk eating them.”
Thankfully though, there were some comments that made more sense. It turns out the cross or ‘dagger’ symbol is used in a similar way to an asterisks.
A Redditor revealed: “It’s a footnote. Look on the packaging (including reverse of pack and label) for the matching symbol which will include additional information about the item being footnotes, here the number 30. Perhaps it is an average number since the pack is based on weight and there may be enough variance to have one more or less?”
Another said: “Presume it references a citation on the back of the packaging that says ’30 approx quantity’.” And a third agreed: “I think it’s a disclaimer on the number 30. The package might contain more or less than 30 sausages.”
It turns out the theory was correct. In this instance, the cross is used to indicate the product is packed by weight and not quantity. For this reason, some customers may get less than 30 cocktail sausages and other lucky shoppers could get more.
Tesco isn’t the only supermarket to use symbols like this one, so be sure to read your product packaging next time you spot the cross. This should give you the extra information you may need to know.
