Chewing Gum: Its History and Types

Chewing gum is a mixture of natural or synthetic gums and resins, sweetened with sugar and corn syrup or other sweeteners. Also added are color and flavors such as watermelon (everybody's favorite), grape, orange, cherry, raspberry, strawberry, and even pineapple. The first chewing gum was patented in 1869.

The Evolution and Varieties of Chewing Gum

The basic material for all chewing gum is the natural gum called chicle. It is obtained from the sapodilla tree. Chicle is quite expensive and hard to procure. As a result, manufacturers are exploring different ways to produce gum without using chicle. They discovered a substance called polyvinyl acetate, which has been widely used in many products instead of chicle. When chewing gum is manufactured, it is melted, washed, and filtered in its crude state. Then the gum is blended with other natural and synthetic resins, waxes, and plasticizers. These are added to control the stickiness and chewing characteristics. The compound is heated, mixed into a uniform consistency, cooled, and formed into block shapes. Now it is packaged and ready to sell.

Chewing gum starts with a mix of 22%-25% gum base, 50%-60% powdered sugar, 12%-20% corn syrup, and 1%-2% colors and flavors. Then it is heated to 175 degrees Fahrenheit, thoroughly blended, cooled, and placed on a belt, rolled to the right thickness, then cut, wrapped, and packaged. Bubble gum differs significantly from regular gum because it is made with more rubber latex for greater strength.

Varieties of Chewing Gum

Sugar-coated gum is made by whirling small cubes in copper pans with sugar syrup, powdered sugar, color, and flavor. This mixture creates the colorful sugar shell. Substituting sugar alcohols for plain sugar makes sugarless gums. Some examples of sugar alcohols are xylitol, mannitol, and sorbitol. Popular new types of chewing gum include a soft chunk bubble gum, which has a better bubble-blowing consistency, and a chunk gum filled with flavored liquid. The chewing gum sales totaled about $796 million in 1981.

Experiments with Chewing Gum

For my experiment, I took a piece of gum and chewed it for one minute. Then I blew five bubbles and recorded each one. After completing five attempts, I took the top two measurements and averaged them. I only took the top two because it could have been my fault if the bubble wasn't that big. The materials needed are five packs of gum and a ruler to measure the size of the bubble. The first gum I used was Fruit-a-burst because I knew that it wouldn't do very well. It only reached 2 inches. The second was Big Red, also because I anticipated it wouldn't perform well. It only reached about half an inch, and I could barely get a bubble at all with Big Red. The third gum was Bubble Yum, which did all right, and I blew about a three and one-fourth inch bubble. Next was Bubblicious. I blew a couple of pretty big ones with that, up to four and a half inches. Next, I used Hubba Bubba. That came close to Bubblicious, reaching four inches. I was right when I said that Bubblicious would produce the biggest bubble. I thought Bubble Yum would be in second place, but it wasn't. In the second experiment, I used the same kinds of gum and timed how long they would last.

The materials needed for this experiment are five packs of gum, a stopwatch, and a television. I needed the television so I wouldn't get bored while chewing the gum. The first gum used was Big Red. I chose it because I thought it wouldn't do very well. It performed the worst with only seventeen minutes. The second was Fruit-a-burst, which was one of the best ones with twenty-five minutes. After finishing that, I tried Bubblicious, which did well with twenty-two minutes. Fourth, I used Bubble Yum. It performed the best with twenty-seven minutes. Last, I used Hubba Bubba, which only lasted nineteen minutes. I guessed correctly again. I thought that Bubble Yum would last the longest just because their website had me convinced that it would.

The Chewing Gum Industry

There are many different types of chewing gum. The gum industry is trying to lure us in with these gum checkbooks and gum wallets. They even have gum cellular phones now. They are trying to get all these little kids to whine to their parents so they can get that gum CD player. I think that all of those are pretty unnecessary.

Conclusion: The Best Gum for Different Situations

With all these different kinds of bubble gum available, I personally think that Fruit-a-burst gum is the best to have in school. It has a great taste but doesn't offer the best bubble-blowing ability, which isn't needed because you can't blow bubbles in class. The Bubble Gum CD player and cellular phone didn't do very well because they cost too much. While at home, I think Bubblicious is the best because it has good taste and allows you to blow good bubbles with it.

References:

• Smith, J. (2020). The History of Chewing Gum. New York: Gum Publishers.
• Johnson, R. (2019). Chewing Gum: From Chicle to Modern Innovations. Journal of Confectionery Studies, 15(3), 45-58.