From what material is chewing gum made?

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How is chewing gum made?

All recipes for chewing gum manufactured today share the same main ingredients: a gum base, sweeteners, primarily sugar and corn syrup, and flavorings. Some also contain softeners, such as glycerin and vegetable oil. The amount of each added to the mix varies as to which type of gum is being manufactured. For example, bubble gum contains more of the gum base, so that your bubbles don't burst…especially during class!

Though gum manufacturers carefully guard their recipes, they all share the same basic process to reach the finished product. Preparation of the gum base at the factory, by far the lengthiest step, requires that the raw gum materials be melted down in sterilized in a steam cooker, and then pumped to a high-powered centrifuge to rid the gum base of undesirable dirt and bark.

Once the factory workers clean the melted gum base, they combine approximately 20% of the base with 63% sugar, 16% corn syrup, and 1% flavoring oils, such as spearmint, peppermint, and cinnamon. While still warm, they run the mixture between pairs of rollers, which are coated on both sides with powdered sugar, to prevent the resulting ribbon of gum from sticking. The final pair of rollers comes fully equipped with knives, which snip the ribbon into sticks, which yet another machine individually wraps.

The gum base used in these recipes is, for the most part, manufactured, due to economic constraints. In the good old days, the entire gum base came directly from the milky white sap, or chicle, of the sapodilla tree found in Mexico and in Guatemala. There, natives collect the chicle by the bucketful, boil it down, mold it into 25-pound blocks, and ship it directly to chewing gum factories. Those with little or no self-restraint, chew their chicle directly from the tree, as did New England settlers, after watching Indians do the same.

The concept of chewing gum stuck, and continues to play a vital role in our economy, largely due to the many benefits associated with its use. Sales of chewing gum first began in the early 1800s. Later, in the 1860s, chicle was imported as a substitute for rubber, and finally, in approximately the 1890s, for use in chewing gum.

The pure pleasure derived from enraging a schoolteacher by blowing bubbles in class, or from annoying a co-worker by snapping it, is only one of the attractions of chewing gum. Chewing gum actually helps to clean the teeth, and to moisturize the mouth, by stimulating saliva production, which helps to neutralize tooth-decay-forming acids left behind after eating fermented food.

The muscular action of chewing gum also helps to curb a person's appetite for a snack or for a cigarette, to concentrate, to stay alert, to ease tension, and to relax one's nerves and muscles. For these very reasons, the armed forces supplied soldiers with chewing gum in World War I, World War II, in Korea, and in Vietnam. Today, chewing gum is still included in field and combat rations. In fact, the Wrigley Company, following the Department of Defense specifications supplied to government contractors, supplied chewing gum for the distribution to troops stationed in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War. It is safe to say that chewing gum has served our country well.

The muscular action of chewing gum also helps to curb a person 's appetite for a snack or for a cigarette, to concentrate, to stay alert, to ease tension, and to relax one 's nerves and muscles. For these very reasons, the armed forces supplied soldiers with chewing gum in World War I, World War II, in Korea, and in Vietnam. Today, chewing gum is still included in field and combat rations. In fact, the Wrigley Company, following the Department of Defense specifications supplied to government contractors, supplied chewing gum for the distribution to troops stationed in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War. It is safe to say that chewing gum has served our country well.

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Effects on health

[edit]Dental health

Various brands of North Americanchewing gum.

Sugar-free gum sweetened with xylitol has been shown to reduce cavities and plaque.^[7] The sweetener sorbitol has the same benefit, but is only about one-third as effective as xylitol.^[7] Xylitol is specific in its inhibition of Streptococcus mutans, bacteria that are significant contributors to tooth decay.^[8] Xylitol inhibits Streptococcus mutans in the presence of other sugars, with the exception of fructose.^[9] Daily doses of xylitol below 3.44 grams are ineffective and doses above 10.32 grams show no additional benefit.^[10] Calcium lactate added to toothpaste has reducedcalculus formation.^[11] One study has shown that calcium lactate enhances enamel remineralization when added to xylitol-containing gum,^[12] but another study showed no additional remineralization benefit from calcium lactate or other calcium compounds in chewing-gum.^[13]

Other studies^[14] indicated that the caries preventive effect of chewing sugar-free gum is related to the chewing process itself rather than being an effect of gum sweeteners or additives, such aspolyols and carbamide.

Over 80% of cavities occur inside pits and fissures in chewing surfaces where food is trapped under chewing pressure and carbohydrate like sugar is changed to acid by resident plaque bacteria that brushing cannot reach.^{[citation needed]}

A helpful way to cure halitosis (bad breath) is to chew gum. Chewing gum not only helps to add freshness to your breath but can aid in removing food particles and bacteria from your teeth that are associated with bad breath. It does this by stimulating saliva, which essentially washes out the mouth. Chewing gum can also help with the lack of saliva or xerostomia since it naturally stimulates saliva production.^[15]

A 2010 study looked at the effects of chewing gum after meals following an orthodontic procedure, to see if chewing exercises caused subjects pain or discomfort, or helped maintain a large occlusal contact area. 35 adult volunteers chewed gum for 10 to 15 minutes before or after three meals each day for 4 weeks. 90% of those questioned said that the gum felt "quite hard", and half reported no discomfort.^[16]

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[edit]Possible carcinogens

Concern has arisen about the possible carcinogenicity of the vinyl acetate (acetic acid ethenyl ester) used by some manufacturers in their gum bases. Currently the ingredient can be hidden in the catch-all term "gum base". The Canadian government at one point classified the ingredient as a "potentially high hazard substance."^[22] However, on January 31, 2009, the Government of Canada's final assessment concluded that exposure to vinyl acetate is not considered to be harmful to human health.^[23] This decision under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) was based on new information received during the public comment period, as well as more recent information from the risk assessment conducted by the European Union.

[edit]Swallowed gum

One old wives' tale says that swallowed gum will remain in a human's stomach for up to 7 years, as it is not digestible. According to several medical opinions, there seems to be little truth behind the tale. In most cases, swallowed gum will pass through the system as fast as any other food.^[24] There have been a few cases where swallowing gum has required medical attention, but these cases are more or less related to chronic gum swallowers. One young boy swallowed several pieces of gum each day and had to be hospitalized,^[25] and another young girl required medical attention when she swallowed her gum and four coins, which got stuck together in her esophagus.^[24] A bezoar is formed in the stomach when food or other foreign objects stick to gum and build up, causing intestinal blockage.^[26] As long as the mass of gum is small enough to pass out of the stomach, it will likely pass out of the body easily.^{[citation needed]}