# The "e" after weights on European products **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-after-weights-on-european-products/249767 "2004-06-11T03:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-after-weights-on-european-products/249767/1 "2004-06-11T03:35:37Z")
I’ve seen some products meant for the European market that have a lower case “e” after the weight, like 500g e except that the “e” is about as tall as an upper case letter, and the top and bottom of the letter are flattened instead of curved. What is the significance of the strange “e”? (BTW, I can’t remember which countries the products were bound for, and it has been a few years since I’ve seen one.) ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-after-weights-on-european-products/249767/2 "2004-06-11T04:25:04Z")
Perhaps it’s the euro currency symbol (€), or a variation of it. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-after-weights-on-european-products/249767/3 "2004-06-11T04:47:19Z")
> [@](#): > > The term “e” mark refers to the symbol “e” used in connection with the quantity declarations on labels of some consumer commodities marketed primarily in the European Community (EC). The “e” mark constitutes a representation by the packer or importer that the package to which it is applied has been filled in accordance with the average system of quantity specified by the EC. The average system is a method of declaring package fill in the EC and other countries of the world, including the United States. [from [here](http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fpla/part500.htm) ] … ---
**Author:** ![Hemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-after-weights-on-european-products/249767/4 "2004-06-11T04:48:23Z")
I vaguely remembering this being introduced. The EU bureaucracy’s mania for controlling everything in 25 different countries extends to packaging and measures. There are standardized measurements for all types of goods. EG, you can bottle and sell ketchup in 100ml, 250ml or 500 ml bottles, but if you want to produce one in 475ml size that’s a no-no. (Just making those numbers up, btw.) The “e” shows that the package size conforms to these standards. Something like that. Note that this makes it difficult to import goods from other parts of the world where you are free to package things however you wish - there’s probably a trade protectionism element to the system. ---
**Author:** ![Hemlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-after-weights-on-european-products/249767/5 "2004-06-11T04:58:58Z")
Kudos to \*\* Hawthord\*\*. I stand corrected, at least, if I read the legalese correctly. I was thinking about metrication in my first post. So the “e” means “give or take X%” where “X” = the EU-permitted degree of variation allowed where absolute specific measures aren’t possible. Yes? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-after-weights-on-european-products/249767/6 "2004-06-11T10:33:24Z")
Correct, and it has nothing to do with the euro (which it predates by many years). The euro symbol looks more like a **C** with two horizontal bars (see [here](http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/euro/notes_and_coins/symbol_en.html)) than a lower-case **e**. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-after-weights-on-european-products/249767/7 "2004-06-11T11:00:37Z")
> [@Hemlock](#): > > The EU bureaucracy’s mania for controlling everything in 25 different countries extends to packaging and measures. > > [snip] > > Note that this makes it difficult to import goods from other parts of the world where you are free to package things however you wish - there’s probably a trade protectionism element to the system. Or maybe it’s establishing standards to ensure fair and accurate trading, which was the one of the main central ideas of the European Common Market. That doesn’t sound like mania to me. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-after-weights-on-european-products/249767/8 "2004-06-11T11:10:25Z")
You’re still free to buy things from outside the EU and sell them openly - however, the obligation is then on _you_ to ensure that they conform with the regulations already mentioned. The ‘e’ symbol is a guarantee to both wholesaler and end consumer. Even the ‘straight bananas’ myth has an element of truth to it - there are indeed carious classifications of bananas, for use in wholesale transactions. It means, for example, that a supermarket in Finland can confidently buy a shipment of bananas from Portugal, without having to travel there and inspect them personally.