At the turn of the 20th century, William Wrigley Jr. succumbed to the construction of the Gum Empire. As part of his extensive turmoil, he was able to convince the US War Bureau to include it in the soldier’s distribution. His arguments were brave at the time, but chewing gum had the miraculous ability to quench thirst, stop hunger, and dissipate nerve tension. But he was right: scientists have since discovered that gum chewing can actually be done Increases concentration, Reduce the urge to snack, Reduces thirstand Improve oral health.
Perhaps that’s why people all over the world have impulses on sticky materials, at least roots, resin, twigs, blubber, tar. 8,000 years. Today, gum is once again on sale as a panacea for health. You can purchase gums designed to provide energy, nutrition, stress relief, or joint health. Scientists are even developing gums that can be protected Influenza, herpesand COVID. Ironically, this new era of chewing gum is clearly made with modern ingredients.
By the time Wrigley began his business venture, Americans were used to chewing gum, which was sold as candy-coated balls or packaging sticks. The base of these chewing gums was made of natural substances such as spruce resin and ticle. This is a natural latex that the Aztecs and Mayans have chewed for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Unfortunately for 20th century Americans, the Chicozaport trees that exudate the ticle take a long time to grow, and if they pass, they die. Additionally, cultivated trees don’t produce as many ticles as wild trees, says Jennifer Matthews, anthropology professor at Trinity University and author of Tickle. In the 1950s, Chicle Harvesters began to struggle to meet demand. So, gum companies have turned to the latest innovations in materials science: synthetic rubber and plastics.
Today, most companies’ gum bases are unique blends of synthetic and natural ingredients. If the packet lists “gum-based” as an ingredient, the gum is likely to contain synthetic polymers. The FDA allows gum bases to contain any of dozens of approved food grade ingredients. But many people are not the substances that people think they put in their mouths. They include polyethylene (the most common type of plastic, used in plastic bags and milk jugs), polyvinyl acetate (the plastic also found in adhesives), and styrene butadiene rubber (commonly used in car tires). A typical gum base contains two to four types of synthetic plastic or rubber, Gwendolyn Graff, a confectionery consultant, told me.
What we love about gum today is thanks to synthetic polymers, Graff said. For example, polyacetic acid strengthens bubble film. “When you blow the bubble and it starts to pierce and fall off, it’s usually an indicator that you don’t have polyvinyl acetate,” Graff says. Styrene butadiene rubber creates a resilient chewy that makes the gum more likely to stick to itself, rather than a tooth-like surface. Polyethylene can be used It will soften Don’t let the gum get tired of your chin. Gums with only natural polymers “can feel like they’re falling apart in the mouth,” Graf said.
However, plastic gum also falls apart. In a sense, gum chewing is linked to microplastic intake. in study Published in December, British researchers chewed volunteers in gum for an hour and spitted them into a test tube. After an hour of gum chewing, the collected saliva contained over 250,000 microplastics and nanoplastics. in study It was presented at a recent conference (not yet peer reviewed) by the American Chemical Society. Graduate student saliva It included elevated microplastic levels after chewing several commercial gums, including natural gums. Research on gum chewing and microplastics is still limited. These two papers effectively represent the analysis of saliva after two chews, but gum chewing is correlated with higher urine levels of urine concentration. Phthalatesknown endocrine disruptor plastic softening chemicals.
Scientists are still learning about the health effects of microplastic intake. Microplastics find a way to all kinds of foods from packaging and contamination during production, or because the plants and animals we eat absorb and consume microplastics themselves. As a result, microplastics have been discovered in humans. Liver, kidneys, brain, Lungs, intestines, placentaand Breast milkMarcus Garcia, who studies the health effects of environmental pollutants at the University of New Mexico, has not been studied much about how our bodies absorb, disperse, and excrete plastics that are absorbed, dispersed, and excreted. Several studies of mice and cultured cells suggest that microplastics can cause damageand epidemiology the study Microplastics suggest that they are associated with respiratory, digestive, reproductive problems, and colon and lung cancer. However, scientists are trying to understand whether or how microplastics cause disease. Microplastics are the most dangerous to human health, and they try to understand how much microplastic the body can ingest before seeing the negative effects.
The answer can affect the future of what we chose to eat. While it may seem inevitable that we will consume small plastic particles, over the past decade or so, Americans have grown so horrified that they can understand that bits of plastic enter our food, eat food in the microwave in plastic containers, and drink from plastic bottles. Gums have mostly not caused those concerns, but in recent years its popularity has declined for other reasons. To reverse that trend, gum companies sell synthetic gum as a wellness tool. Like Wrigley, they bet that Americans believe in the power of gum to relieve nerves and heal illness, and that it’s not too difficult about what modern gum really is. Plus, for those who are worried about swallowing more plastic, after all, gum is easy enough to avoid.
