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What is chewing gum made from?

Poll

What is chewing gum made from?




*rhetorical question*




Did you know that chewing gum is artificially-flavoured plastic?


Why?
The base layer of chewing gum is a synthetic rubber made out of plastic (polyvinyl acetate, or polyisobutylene), the same type which is used to make car tires. This means that, like all other plastics, chewing gum takes forever to break down. To be exact, minimum 500 years (meaning you can’t compost it).

Fortunately, chewing gum does travel relatively smoothly through your digestive system. I.e., if you accidently swallow it, it won’t remain in the pit of your stomach for the rest of your life. However, if you swallow too many gums in one session it could lead to diarrhoea and bloating.

The most extreme example of eating gum were these 4-year-olds in America who ate too much. They had to have surgery to remove the sticky plastic balls that had formed at the pits of their stomachs.

Artificial?
It’s artificially-flavoured because it's classed as "sugar free". The chewing gum which the popular brands produce, including: Wrigley’s Extra, Airwaves, Orbit, and Hubba Bubba, all do this. A frequent example of the sugar alternative is aspartame, with the possible health risk being an increased risk of (breast or testicular) cancer.

What can you do?
Some suggestions for dealing with this micro-plastic issue are:

Buying natural chewing gum from brands like Chewsy, Simply Gum, and Georganics

Stop chewing gum



All of this info that I've found out has been through online articles from these websites:
6 Disturbing Side Effects of Chewing Gum - organic.org
Butene - Wikipedia
Chewing Gum 100,000 tonnes of Plastic Pollution every year Just One Ocean
Chewing Gum Ingredients (chewinggumfacts.com)
Chewing Gum: Good or Bad? (healthline.com)
Does chewing gum have plastic in it? - The Future is Plastic Free
Environmental Impact of Chewing Gum: Everything you Need to Know (get-green-now.com)
Glycerol - Wikipedia
Here's What Happens If You Chew Too Much Gum (buzzfeed.com)
Polybutene - Wikipedia
Polyvinyl acetate - Wikipedia
The Truth About Aspartame Side Effects (healthline.com)
What is chewing gum made of? - BBC Science Focus Magazine
What Is in Chewing Gum? - Ingredients Then & Now (thoughtco.com)
The Harmful Effects of Plastic - CNM College of Naturopathic Medicine (naturopathy-uk.com)
it is produced by marine plankton in areas such as Turkey. local fishermen scoop it up and take it home for processing.

here is one of them

ssnot.png
Original post by the bear
it is produced by marine plankton in areas such as Turkey. local fishermen scoop it up and take it home for processing.

here is one of them

ssnot.png

*crying laughing emoji*
Reply 3
Original post by Coolnerdqueen
*crying laughing emoji*

what, these ones?😂🤣
I was under the impression it was basically a synthetically made variant of tree-sap, some questionable chemical additives and sugar.
this year's harvest is so abundant that they use divers to harvest it

ssnoot.png
Original post by nnth



*rhetorical question*




Did you know that chewing gum is artificially-flavoured plastic?


Why?
The base layer of chewing gum is a synthetic rubber made out of plastic (polyvinyl acetate, or polyisobutylene), the same type which is used to make car tires. This means that, like all other plastics, chewing gum takes forever to break down. To be exact, minimum 500 years (meaning you can’t compost it).

Fortunately, chewing gum does travel relatively smoothly through your digestive system. I.e., if you accidently swallow it, it won’t remain in the pit of your stomach for the rest of your life. However, if you swallow too many gums in one session it could lead to diarrhoea and bloating.

The most extreme example of eating gum were these 4-year-olds in America who ate too much. They had to have surgery to remove the sticky plastic balls that had formed at the pits of their stomachs.

Artificial?
It’s artificially-flavoured because it's classed as "sugar free". The chewing gum which the popular brands produce, including: Wrigley’s Extra, Airwaves, Orbit, and Hubba Bubba, all do this. A frequent example of the sugar alternative is aspartame, with the possible health risk being an increased risk of (breast or testicular) cancer.

What can you do?
Some suggestions for dealing with this micro-plastic issue are:

Buying natural chewing gum from brands like Chewsy, Simply Gum, and Georganics

Stop chewing gum



All of this info that I've found out has been through online articles from these websites:
6 Disturbing Side Effects of Chewing Gum - organic.org
Butene - Wikipedia
Chewing Gum 100,000 tonnes of Plastic Pollution every year Just One Ocean
Chewing Gum Ingredients (chewinggumfacts.com)
Chewing Gum: Good or Bad? (healthline.com)
Does chewing gum have plastic in it? - The Future is Plastic Free
Environmental Impact of Chewing Gum: Everything you Need to Know (get-green-now.com)
Glycerol - Wikipedia
Here's What Happens If You Chew Too Much Gum (buzzfeed.com)
Polybutene - Wikipedia
Polyvinyl acetate - Wikipedia
The Truth About Aspartame Side Effects (healthline.com)
What is chewing gum made of? - BBC Science Focus Magazine
What Is in Chewing Gum? - Ingredients Then & Now (thoughtco.com)
The Harmful Effects of Plastic - CNM College of Naturopathic Medicine (naturopathy-uk.com)

Your right! But you can also make chewing gum out of tree sap, its just to expensive for mass production!
Original post by MysticImogen
Your right! But you can also make chewing gum out of tree sap, its just to expensive for mass production!

Or you could just chew tree sap :tongue:
I thought it was tree sap too... I was so gassed when I saw the poll I thought I was going to ace it.. then I scrolled down a bit...

Anyway, this is why I'm a mint guy - they're just better than gum. Specifically the black Halls
Original post by nnth
what, these ones?😂🤣


yess
It is like rubber. The longer I am chewing, the worse the taste of the gum. Gross! :yum::pinch:

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