Gum has become such a popular candy treat throughout the world. It comes in many different flavors like spearmint, Peppermint, original bubble gum, Cinnamon, Dragonfruit, Melon, Watermelon, and so much more. Ever wonder how they are made though? Recently I stumbled upon a video called  “How Gum is Made” By Design Insider that takes you along the very satisfying process and crazy ingredients of Gum. 

About 9,000 years ago, evidence shows that Europeans chewed birch Bark tar for enjoyment and medicinal purposes like toothaches. On the other side of the world, In America the Mayans chewed something called Chicle that was made from Sapodilla trees to quench thirst and fight hunger. In 1860, the modern gum we chew today was invented in Mexico and given to Thomas Adams from General Antonio Lopez, Mexico’s former President, and brought to New York as a substitute for rubber. 

Originally, Gum was made out of tree resin as the base that makes gum chewy. However, today, Gum is completely synthetic, made by chemical synthesis, especially to imitate a natural product. The Gum that we chew or are possibly chewing now is made out of solely plastics and rubbers. First, this synthetic gum base is poured into a mixer and added with food coloring and flavor. When everything thus far starts being mixed, they pour in Glucose Syrup, a liquid sweetener that helps keep the Gum base soft. Then, they add Dextrose, a powdered artificial sweetener. Together, all the ingredients are blended for 20 minutes where the stirring action builds up heat and melts everything together perfectly. 

Once the mixture reaches a bread dough consistency it is ready and poured out into a machine called the pre-extruder that turns the big bulky mixture into thin, long, and manageable strips that could go into extruders. The extruders are the machines that turn the big strips into long strips of the actual size of the piece of bubble gum in each wrapper that will be cut into bite sized pieces later on. Thus, this extrusion process heats up the gum to a point where if they were to wrap it up it would get stuck to the wrapper, so the next stop is the cooling chamber. The gum goe sis for approximately 15 minutes in a 37-45 degree fahrenheit. 

Finally, when the cooling chamber is finished it is cool enough to begin getting wrapped. One machine is used to both cut the long gum strips into bite size and wrap it off right away very quickly. Thus, The gum making process is absolutely mind blowing and something exciting to learn. The fact that the gum we chew today is plastic is why people should refrain from swallowing it, especially little kids!