Information about Chewing Gum

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Chewing gum is a type of confectionery which is designed to be chewed rather than swallowed. Traditionally, it was made of chicle, a natural latex product, although for reasons of economy and quality many modern chewing gums use petroleum-based polymers instead of chicle. Chicle is nonetheless still the base of choice for some regional markets, such as in Japan.

History

Chewing gum, in various forms, has existed since at least the Neolithic period. A 5,000 year old chewing gum with tooth imprints, made of birch bark tar, has been found in Yli-Ii, Finland. The bark tar of which the gums were made is believed to have antiseptic properties and other medicinal helpers. ^[1] Later forms of chewing gums have been used in Ancient Greece. The Greeks chewed mastic gum, made from the resin of the mastic tree.^[2] Many other cultures have chewed gum-like substances made from plants, grasses, and resins. The American Indians chewed resin made from the sap of spruce trees. The New England settlers picked up this practice, and in the early 1880s attempts were made to commercially market spruce gum. Around 1850 a gum made from paraffin wax was developed and soon exceeded the spruce gum in popularity. Modern chewing gum was first developed in the 1860s when chicle was imported from Mexico for use as a rubber subsititute. Chicle did not succeed as a replacement for rubber, but as a gum it soon dominated the market. Chicle gum, and gum made from similar latexes, had a smoother and softertexture and held flavor better. Most chewing gum companies have switched to synthetic gum bases because of their low price and availability. According to their website, Glee Gum is the last gum manufacturer in the United States to produce gum using all-natural chicle.^[3] In 1848 John B. Curtis developed and sold the first commercial chewing gum called The State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum.

In 1855 a group of left wing revolutionaries led by Benito Juárez and Ignacio Comonfort overthrew Mexican dictator Santa Anna, who fled back to Cuba. He then lived in exile in Cuba, the United States, Colombia, and St. Thomas. During his time in New York City he is credited as bringing the first shipments of chicle, the base of chewing gum, to the United States, but he failed to profit from this since his plan was to use the chicle to replace rubber in carriage tires, which was tried without success. The American assigned to aid Santa Anna while he was in the US, Thomas Adams, conducted experiments with the chicle and (re-)discovered its possible use as a confectionary chewing gum. William Semple filed the first patent on chewing gum, patent number 98,304, on December 28, 1869.

Types

Chewing gums come in a variety of flavors, depending on location, and is most often chewed for the flavor. There is no standard type of gum, since it can be formed in many different shapes and sizes. Some examples include:

• Ball gum - shaped like a ball and coated, and is often found in vending machines. In the United Kingdom, these are often referred to as 'Screwballs' due to being found at the bottom of a 'Screwball' ice-cream. Commonly referred to in the US as "gum balls."
• Bubble gum - formulated with film-forming characteristics for blowing bubbles.
• Sugarfree gum
• Candy & Gum combinations - predominantly bubble gum found in the center of some types of lollipop, such as Charms Blow Pops.
• Center-filled gum - contains a softer center.
• Chiclet gum - is a colloquialism for candy coated chewing gum.
• Cut & Wrap gum - refers to the name of the machine which wraps this type of gum, usually in the form of a chunk, cube or cylindrical shape.
• Dragée gum - a pillow-shaped coated pellet, often packed in blister packs.
• Functional gum - chewing gum with a practical function, such as Zoft Gum (specializes in the development and production of herbal chewing gum products using gum as the delivery system).
• Medicated gum - makes use of a chewing gum as a 'delivery system' to introduce medicated substances into the saliva and thus into the blood stream faster than pills.
• Powdered gum - free flowing powder form or powders compressed into unique shapes.
• Ribbon gum - very similar to stick gum in shape, but much longer, coiled up in a cylindrical hockey-puck like container and the consumer is expected to tear off a piece of the desired size.
• Stick gum - a thin flat slab of gum.
• Tube gum or spaghetti gum - very soft bubble gum which can be squeezed from a tube.

Composition and manufacture

Chewing gum is a combination of a water-insoluble phase, known as gum base, and a water-soluble phase of sweeteners, flavoring and sometimes food coloring.

The approximate manufacturing methods are fairly constant between brands. The gum base is melted at a temperature of about 115 °C (240 °F), until it has the viscosity of thick maple syrup, and filtered through a fine mesh screen. Then it is further refined by separating dissolved particles in a centrifuge, and further filtered. Clear base, still hot and melted, is then put into mixing vats. Other ingredients that may be added include: powdered sugar, whose amount and grain size determines the brittleness of the result, corn syrup and/or glucose which serve as humectants, coat the sugar particles and stabilize their suspension, and keep the gum flexible, various softeners, food colorings, flavorings, preservatives and other additives.

The homogenized mixture is then poured onto cooling belts, and cooled with cold air. Extrusion, optionally rolling and cutting, and other mechanical shaping operations follow. The chunks of gum are then put aside to set for 24 to 48 hours.

Coated chewing gums then undergo other operations. The chunks are wrapped with optional undercoating for better binding with outer layers then immersed into liquid sugar. The pellets are then colored and coated with a suitable glazing agent, usually a wax. The coating/glazing/colors on gum is most often derived from animal based sources such as resinous glaze that is derived from an insect or beeswax. Vegans, vegetarians, and those who do not wish to consume animal based products or have allergies should be aware of the limited variety of non-animal derived gums available. Always contact the manufacturer of the gum to clarify the ingredients including the coating/glazing/color sources.

While gum was historically sweetened with cane sugar, xylitol, corn syrup, or other natural sweetners, a large number of brands now use mostly or only artificial sweetners such as aspartame, sucralose, or Acesulfame potassium. It is currently rather difficult to find a mint-type (breath freshening) gum which does not contain aspartame for those who choose to avoid it.

Non-coated varieties of gum are often covered in sweetened marble dust to prevent the wrapper from sticking to the product.

Gum and society

Chewing gum adheres firmly to concrete and other hard surfaces, and requires great effort to remove -- power washing is often required. The adhesive effect can be so strong that it removes food particles attached to the teeth, or even remove a filling from a tooth. It is not uncommon to see urban sidewalks and train platforms speckled with thousands of patches of dried, discarded gum. For this reason, the sale of chewing gum has been prohibited in Singapore since 1992. ^[4] Recently, however, some types of chewing gum (e.g., nicotine replacement gums) have been allowed under strictly monitored distribution. (See Chewing gum ban in Singapore)

An old wives' tale states that chewing gum, if swallowed, may take up to seven years to become fully digested, and that swallowing gum could also result in the substance becoming lodged in the esophagus. Chewing gum does resist complete digestion by the body; it is generally 1 expelled like other foods in 95% of individuals, though relatively unchanged. ^[5] In rare cases, some individuals who have been known to swallow chewing-gum regularly and who are predisposed can aid the growth of bezoars within their stomachs or intestines.

In many American, British, Canadian, and Australian schools, chewing gum is prohibited and being caught using it may lead to disciplinary action. It is discouraged because many students do not throw the used gum away but stick it underneath their desks which results in time and resources being spent on cleaning up the used gum.

Gum and the military

The U.S. Armed Forces have regularly supplied soldiers with chewing gum since World War I because it helped both to improve the soldiers' concentration and to relieve stress. Recent studies show chewing gum can also improve one's mood. As of 2005, the US military is sponsoring development of a chewing gum formulation with an antibacterial agent, which should be able to replace conventional oral hygiene methods in the battlefield. ^[6]

Recently the U.S. Armed Forces have been providing soldiers with caffeineated gum to keep soldiers alert for extended periods of time without experiencing fatigue or drowsiness. Each stick of gum has approximately 100 mg of caffeine in it, which is about the same amount as in an average cup of coffee. ^[7]

Gum is included in Canadian Forces Individual Meal Packs as an aid to oral hygiene.

"Recaldent" chewing gum was introducted into New Zealand Defence Force ration packs May 2007 by New Zealand Defence Dental Services to aid oral health care for service personnel in the field. Research has shown that "Recaldent" gum aids reminerialisation of early tooth decay.

See also

• Bubble gum
• Functional gum
• Gum base
• Gum industry
• List of chewing gum brands
• Artificial sweeteners

References