What is chewing gum made out of?

Answer 1

"Chewing gum is a type of confectionery which is designed to be chewed, not 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 "upscale" gum brands, as well as some regional markets, such as in Japan."

Answer 2

Up until WWII, chewing gum was made of a substance called chicle mixed with flavorings. Chicle is a latex sap that comes from the sapodilla tree (native to Central America). In other words, chicle is a form of rubber.After WWII, chemists learned how to make artificial gum bases to replace chicle. These gum bases are essentially synthetic rubbers that have the same temperature profile as chicle.

Answer 3

Chewing gum is a type of confectionery which is designed to be chewed, not 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 "upscale" gum brands, as well as some regional markets, such as in Japan.

The chewing gum is made of a "gum base" with added flavoring and sometimes food coloring . The exact composition of gum bases is usually a trade secret, but common ingredients can be latexes (eg. leche, caspi, sorva, nispero, tunu, jelutong, or chicle, which is still commercially produced), paraffin wax or beeswax, polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate, stearic acid, and various natural gums.

Old gum bases were based on latexes, vegetable gums like chicle, spruce gum, or mastic gum. Alternative choices were waxes, eg. paraffin wax and beeswax. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana and at Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company are studying the possibility of making gum base with biodegradable zein (corn protein). [1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum

In my previous job, I had occasion to visit a chemical plant that produced polyvinyl acetate that was sold to a major chewing gum manufacturer. I think that almost all gums in the US are made with PVA as the "gum base." This stuff is hard enough to break your teeth! They add softeners to it at the chewing gum plant. It is also the same stuff that white school glue and carpenter's glue is made from.

Answer 4

Most chewing gums innocuously list "gum base" as one of their ingredients, masking the fact that petroleum, lanolin, glycerin, polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate, petroleum wax, stearic acid, and latex may be among the components. Because of standards of identity for items such as gum base and flavoring, manufacturers are not required to list everything in their product. According to Dertoline, a French chemical manufacturer, their adhesive "dercolytes" are used as a label and tape adhesive, as well as a chewing gum base. Many brands also list glycerin and glycerol as ingredients on the label. Both of those compounds can be animal-derived.

Answer 5

gum comes off trees

Answer 6

dead cows, and LOTS of meat. Just kidding. I think it is made of chikle, or some kind of tree resin.

Answer 7

petroleum