Talk:Chewing gum/Archive 1

An opinion removed
i removed something about gum being Tasteful. I know it is, but it is only an opinion. Not everyone likes gum, so I removed it. From Nun Ya

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.86.245.250 (talk) 01:33, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

older comments
Somebody vandalized the page... the whole thing about "gay in other words fruity" flavors and San Francisco being gay but San Fran. has nothing to do with chewin gum !

Rather odd spelling/grammar error, please edit me if someone figures out how to fix: Ctrl+F for "making sum of the gum base". sum?

I'd like somebody to write something about the "disintegrating gum syndrome." I know a lot of people are skeptical, but it happened to me a couple of times. Red Plum 18:47, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Added an external link. -- Beland (talk) 01:34, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Sorry if I am not doing this right, I am new to Wikipedia.

It seems to me that the information about Santa Anna is overkill. This is an article about chewing gum, all that extra information about Santa Anna shouldn't be on there. I'm not saying he shouldn't be mentioned, but what does prize cock fighting have to do with chewing gum?

About gum on the ground, it said:
 * For the resulting placques a neologism, spum, was introduced in January 2004.

By whom? Unless its was coined by some very popular source (name, please), it is best to wait until it catches on...Jorge Stolfi 19:26, 6 Apr 2004 (UTC)

'Old Wives Tale' addition
Added to the old wives tale text, and reworded it, feel free to change back or alter... --Benbread 19:38, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I seem to recall reading years ago that certain jungle tribes chew(ed) naturally-occurring tree-resins. Prehistoric chewing gum, anyone? Lee M 17:26, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)

What about a history of it?

What about a description of its psychological effects?

What about recipies, on to make some ?

What about a making some with no taste ? Because now you got to choose between the sugar that kills your teeth and the artificial sugar that's not very healthy at all, when swallowed.

—Why would it be unhealthy? Do you have any evidence than extremely small amounts of artificial sweeteners are dangerous to a person's health?

-you can not create new gum at home, the temperatures required would melt any pots you had at home. but you could collect spruce sap and add some sweeteners to it.

History
Is there anyone willing to do a bit of research on the history of chewing gum, both recent and ancient? A short blurb would be fine. --Kerowyn 06:31, 12 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Never mind. Silly me. I ask for someone to expand the article, then I go do it myself. --Kerowyn 07:05, 12 July 2005 (UTC)


 * There is no history section there now, so one would be nice to have... I came across this link, which claims that chicle-based chewing gum was invented by John Colgan of Kentucky - but Find-A-Grave is not considered a reliable source, so finding some other source for the claim before putting it into the article would be a Good Thing. --Alvestrand (talk) 21:27, 23 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Actually, I came across some gum research about the history of gum, here is the link:History of Gum? it is quite possible that this is good enough to add to the article.-- Colo nel Valh ala-112  [[Image:US-O6 insignia.svg|25px]] 01:08, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

?????
Does gum actually help you in school?

People claim that it helps your brain get moving, but I never experienced it (but that was a good excuse to chew gum in class)


 * Yes, I too have read on some rather suspicious evidence about how gum helps you think, here is the website:Does gum really help you think?-- Colo nel Valh ala-112  [[Image:US-O6 insignia.svg|25px]] 01:20, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

the "lol" thing
is the lol on the page Laugh out Loud or something else, if lol it should be removed--FlareNUKE 06:06, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

Gum and Military citing
I would be helpful to cite sources for statements of 'concentration and relaxation' and 'mood' in the "Gum and Military" section.

entegrating gum
I just came here to find out about gum dissolving in my mouth. I was just chewing Winterfresh for a few hours, sending emails, and it turned to liquidy slime. I thought I was going nuts or something and went to look up what causes chewing gum (specifically the kind winterfresh is) to fall apart in a mouth...it's not even hot outside, so i doubt it was from heat...I did drink soda (Pepsi-regular)with the gum in my mouth about an hour earlier...otherwise I did not eat anything before that day. If anyone knows, please! It sounds ridiculous...but I want to know! Thanks
 * "for a few hours"? Come on; it's not indestructible.  You should probably chew a piece for no more than half an hour.  It loses all flavor by or before then.  --Nelson Ricardo 01:38, 27 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Not indestructible you say? Seven years my ass! --71.112.125.136 01:18, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Haha, I actually just came on here to find out the same thing. For me the shock wasn't the fact that it disintegrated, but the rapidity with which it did...I was just chewing normally and then in a matter of 10-15 seconds it completely evaporated in my mouth. Kind of startling. I'd be interested in an explanation as well. --130.126.67.39 17:53, 11 May 2006 (UTC)


 * What kind of gum brand was it?-- Colo nel Valh ala-112  [[Image:US-O6 insignia.svg|25px]] 01:18, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

...mebbe it's got something to do with saliva? ~Sushi 06:12, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Yes, this happpened to me too, I've searched the answer for a fews months on wikipedia by asking the question on the wikipedia's research database, but so far no satisfactory answer. However, not soon ago, I found out that when I put crackers and chewing gum in my mouth both of them disentigrated rapidly. I've verified it at least 3 times. (Try it yourself!) ~Hengsheng120 21:06, 09 September 2006 (UTC)


 * after becoming frustrated with not finding a satisfactory answer, I took the initiative to ask the high school Chemistry teacher. Her response involved the temperature and humidity of the environment in which you chew the gum, and a certain enzyme (probably due to some food which you ingested up to three days ago, spicy foods especially) reacting with an element within the gum. Hope that helps some, Hojima  chong  05:28, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Hey im not sure if your happy with me editing this but the winterfresh happened to me2! I was on myspace nd went sloshy and when i spit it out it was still on my teeth!


 * Gum + chocolate will do this every time. It has something to do with an emulsifier in chocolate, but as I haven't looked into it I'll leave this as an exercise for the reader. 204.186.60.29 23:46, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Peanut Butter
The page said that "some believe" it can remove gum from hair, but I've personally tried it with some amount of success. I altered it to say that, "Peanut butter can (at least partially) remove gum from hair." or something like that. Do I need a source? 71.162.37.174 03:51, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Except then you have peanut butter in your hair. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.77.19.12 (talk) 04:29, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, in that experiment, you get something out of your hair...then you get something else in your hair, rather embarrassing, don't you agree?-- Colo nel Valh ala-112   01:17, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

I had chewing gum in my mouth took it out to throw it away but I had really long hair then (I have short/long hair now because I cut it.) I got it in my hair, I went downstairs and told my mom she took peanut butter out put it in my hair and It WORKED! (Twilight578 (talk) 15:56, 14 April 2009 (UTC)) ~I'm chewing gum right now LOL

cleaning
more details should be included with the vague "chewing gum can be dissolved with some starchs" phrase.

I doubt ethanol would dissolve gum. Gum base contains hydrocarbon polymers such as polyisobutylene, and these would only be soluble in non-polar solvents. Therefore, pet spirit (gasoline, as mentioned), toluene, heptane etc. would work. Polar solvents such as acetone and ethanol probably wouldn't (at least they wouldnt dissolve the gum base). SimonUK 14:36, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Health Claims section
It's somewhat amusing to watch an article develop... the Health Claims section of this article says in the beginning that "Sugared gum has been shown to increase tooth decay when used regularly." However, near the end it says that "Gum containing the sugar alcohol xylitol can help counteract tooth decay." Not a sugar expert here, but it does look like a gum with xylitol would need to contain sugar. Hojima chong  06:15, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I've tried to fix it. Please see what you think. Tom Harrison Talk 03:25, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

No, xylitol is a sugar-alcohol, not a sugar. It is similar to the substance "sorbitol" which is often used to make sugar-free mints. It tastes like sugar, but does not promote tooth decay like sugar can. Therefore a gum containing xylitol would not also need to contain sugar. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.72.73.194 (talk) 18:36, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

Vegetarian/Vegan
The article mentions the "limited variety of non-animal derived gums available." However, as a avid consumer of gum in the UK and Ireland I have never yet come across a pack of gum that didn't say it was suitable for vegetarians on it. So are the non-animal derived gums popular in other countries? Or just North America? Slashygood 01:18, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Original research
There are many dubious, unusual claims in this article, particularly the "irritating habits" bit of Gum and Society, but this statement is unusual, too: "Chewing gum litter (GUMPOX) has been tested and contains bacteria; a piece of gum can be discarded on the ground and while fresh will contain virus and over time continues to harvest bacteria. Micrococcus sedentarius" I had never heard the term "GUMPOX" before, but doing a Google search has chewyonyourboot.com.au as the first result, and also this:, which seems like a bizarre spam exercise. I'll remove the quoted bit from the article, but I won't do anything about the "irritating habits" section - I would rather see someone else's opinion on it, first. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dreaded Walrus (talk • contribs) 09:16, 4 June 2007 (UTC)
 * WP policy requires that all statements in an article must be verifiable. --Jtir 10:23, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! GUM IS YUMMY! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.53.209.42 (talk) 05:25, 1 March 2008 (UTC)


 * ...Yes...Yes it is...:-\-- Colo nel Valh ala-112  [[Image:US-O6 insignia.svg|25px]] 01:15, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

betel
Betel is not in any way a gum

86.3.134.182 04:53, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Birch bark tar
This article accurately summarizes a recent discovery.com story about Stone Age gum, but unfortunately I don't understand that article's claim that you can make tar out of birch bark. I assume what they mean to say is that you cut incisions in birch bar and collect sap/tar from them? Then this is boiled and reheated somehow (though I'm not sure how they know this). My bet is that any Stone Age tech is well worth rediscovering - those guys might not have had modern advantages, but they knew what they were doing. 204.186.60.29 23:50, 20 August 2007 (UTC) 'Bold text'

Extreme Power Washing
Chewing gum adheres firmly to concrete and other hard surfaces, and requires great effort to remove -- power washing is often required.

Power washing = pressure washer? --Abdull (talk) 10:04, 7 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I was pretty sure it was, and then Googled for "power wash" and found lots of examples. Nice quote from an ad: "Not only are they ten to fifty times more powerful than a garden hose, they use up to 80% less water." Shenme (talk) 05:32, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Semple
What? No mention of William Finley Semple? -- JackofOz (talk) 07:23, 17 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Who?-- Colo nel Valh ala-112  [[Image:US-O6 insignia.svg|25px]] 01:13, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

More info?
There's a lot of info not included in the article. For instance: is it safe to swallow the gum or should it always be spat out? What are the laws in different against spitting it out in public places? In which countries is gum illegal or at least importing it illegal? (Singapore?) How much does it cost for the government to remove gum that has stuck to streets? Interesting piece here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/04/waste.pollution. 86.168.113.164 (talk) 09:15, 5 May 2008 (UTC)


 * It should be common sense on the chewing of gum, you don't swallow it! You spit it out!!-- Colo nel Valh ala-112  [[Image:US-O6 insignia.svg|25px]] 01:12, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

get to work
This article is pathetic. No pictures of sticks of gum, or packs of sticks of gum. No pictures of dried wads of gum on sidewalks or under desks, no serious discussion of the history of child culture, sticking wads of gum on things, and how hard it can be to clean. -69.87.203.39 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 20:57, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

URGENT MYTH NEEDS SOLVING
IS IT TRUE THAT IF YOU SWALLOW GUM IT WILL LAST 7 YEARS? BECAUSE I SWALLOWED GUM BEFORE. AND I COULDNT EAT MUCH. AND NOW. I CAN EAT A LOT! PLEASE. PUT THIS. ON HERE. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.185.73.78 (talk) 04:48, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

No it's not true. If you swallow chewing gum, the flavour additive parts (sugar, flavourings, etc) will be digested, whilst the gum itself, which is composed of relatively high polymers, will be largely unaffected by the action of the stomach, and will simply pass through and emerge the other end. The same effect as if you accidentially swallowed a piece of pencil eraser. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.72.73.194 (talk) 18:39, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

frequently asked questions

 * What is chewing gum?
 * Where did it originate?
 * Who were the first people to use it?
 * What did they call it?
 * Was there more than 50 names for gum?
 * What state or country eats or consumes the most gum each year?
 * Why does gum seem to be so appealing to young kids and teens?
 * Does gum realy come from tires?
 * Does gum cut your appitite?
 * Do people use gum for harm to their body?
 * What makes gum pink?
 * Is thier a religion that dis approves of gum?

thank you for reading my artical if you have anything to add please feel free to do so Shelby Lynn Taylor''' —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.236.161.197 (talk) 02:46, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

which gum can last longer? feb.9 2009 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.62.246.39 (talk) 22:55, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

A topic of...
Food commodity has been added based on the following http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&newwindow=1&q=chewing+gum+peppermint+site%3Awww.codexalimentarius.net&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi= --222.64.30.89 (talk) 23:32, 6 June 2009 (UTC)