Nagging Question
Does Gum Really Take Seven Years to Digest?
It sounds like a digestive impossibility
Despite the pervasive schoolyard rumor, gum can be digested in a few days, says Jennifer Luth, the manager of marketing communications at Wrigley. “Chewing gum is composed of five basic ingredients, four of which [flavor, sweeteners, syrups, and softeners] dissolve in your mouth,” she says. “If you swallow the remaining gum base, it passes [through the body] like roughage.”
“Chewing gum that is manufactured under good manufacturing practices would be safe to consume,” adds Michael Herndon, press officer at the Food and Drug Administration. (What gum might fall into the category of questionable manufacturing? He doesn’t say.)
Even so, don’t go swallowing every piece of gum you chew. In a 1998 study published in Pediatrics (Volume 102 Number 2), researchers documented cases where children who routinely swallowed large quantities of gum developed digestive problems and blockages. The children in the study were swallowing multiple pieces a day (one swallowed five to seven pieces daily). However, the occasional piece of Bubble Yum shouldn’t cause a gastrointestinal incident.
CHOW’s Nagging Question column appears every Friday. Got a Nagging Question of your own? Email us.
Roxanne Webber is an associate editor at CHOW.
To be clear to those who might not know, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are strict FDA regulations for quality assurance. It should be capitalized and it has a specific meaning.
I should add that I found this post depressing in much the same way that I felt when i discovered that Santa wasn't real.
I find this post depressing because like the "fertilized egg" question the fact that it even has to be asked shows an appalling lack of basic knowledge of vital bodily functions. Does anyone -- anyone? -- anyone! -- who has thought about this for more than ten seconds really believe that *anything* spends more than a few days in your digestive tract? Are people really that unable to apply logic to a question? Are people really so stupid and lazy that they will ask a question like this rather than strain their brain cells?
Ruth, the answer is yes.
Yeah, gee whiz, what is with little children these days when they don't believe what their parents tell them?
Everyone knows that this was used as a scare tactic for kids. So I find it even more depressing that you, ruth, can't use your own common sense to answer your own questions.
I wonder what would happen if you swallowed gum, ate some poprocks and washed it down with a Coke?
It is a medical fact that you would explode - and it's not a pretty site!
@FresserGuy~~~don't know if it's a medical fact or not, but I do know I will not wash down my mouthful of mentos with a good swig of Diet Coke anytime soon.
Ruth, I'd suggest you read Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth." No, this doesn't stand up to logical analysis. But I still don't swallow gum and I don't step on cracks in the sidewalk either, something my mother thanks me for to this day.
I just joined this site tonight and am enjoying the responses!
Ruth, if you've ever had the pleasure of witnessing a colonic & what evacuates, you would know first hand there's alot of old stuff in there!
@ArtsySF, first of all welcome to the comment boards...
Read some of the old threads, you will be in stitches, like people's all time gross-out foods, foods you can't live without, etc.
Who would let their child continue to eat gum after swallowing 5-7 pieces daily?
I'm with tonicart... People wondering about gum in your gut doesn't depress me nearly as much as the parent who gives their kid gum knowing the kid is swallowing 5-7 pieces a day... Are you kidding me?
JonParker: We checked up regarding your comment, and while you are correct that “good manufacturing practices” is a formal term used by the FDA, its usage is not capped, at least according to this FDA page Mr. Herndon sent us: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/gmp-1.h... (We’re not talking about the acronym; acronyms are always all caps.) Thank you for commenting!
@weezerific~~~I hear you there, besides these days with the price of "real" food, who can afford to give their child the equivalent of a pack of gum or more depending on type---that's like a luxury item anymore.
Isabella seems to have some interesting diversions. Hey, how do you establish age on that stuff?
Uh-oh. I've been swallowing my gum for years. I mean YEARS. Decades even. And 5-7 pieces is an average day. Little pieces. Trident little. But still....