11421 Does Gum Really Take Seven Years to Digest? Thu Nov 20 15:55:00 -0800 2008 http://www.chow.com/stories/11421 Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:55:00 GMT It sounds like a digestive impossibility It sounds like a digestive impossibility. http://www.chow.com/assets/2008/05/NQ_105_3.jpg Roxanne Webber 62 Nagging Question 1 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.

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