1- The recipe for the paste is simple. The base gum, the “rubber” that gives consistency to the candy, is the main ingredient. Before, the substance came from the sap of a tree. Today, it is synthetic, made from various petroleum derivatives, such as resin and paraffin. In addition to it, there are smaller portions of sugar or sweetener, glucose syrup, dyes and flavorings.
2- Sugar is the impalpable type, so pulverized that it looks like talc. Glucose syrup sweetens and makes the gum stickier and softer. The base gum is melted at 90ºC, and the ingredients are thrown into the mixer. This large pan holds up to 1 ton of gum, which is left there in the stir and stir for 25 minutes.
3- The next step is to shape the cob. In the case of thicker gums, extrusion rolls, a process that forces the mass through a hole until it comes out uniform and malleable (something similar to squeezing a tube of toothpaste). The chewing gum in the form of a tablet turns into blankets, with several tablets glued to each other.
4- If the gum is the type that has a liquid filling (made from artificially colored and flavored glucose syrup), it is placed in the extrusion phase. As the gum is being pushed, a machine injects the liquid into the center of the mass before it exits through the hole.
5- When leaving the extruder, the gum is still heated, a bit mushy and difficult to cut. That’s why,
the next step is to cool the mixture. First, the gum rests on trays for a few hours. It then goes to the cooling room, where it stays for up to 24 hours kept at around 15°C, or just 15 minutes at lower temperatures, around 5°C.
6- Now, yes, the gum can be cut without sticking or losing shape. Some chewing gums are sprinkled with icing sugar first, to remove a little more stickiness. The cut can be a kind of grid that divides the gum sheet into rectangles, or a blade that cuts strips of gum.
7- Do you know the chewing gums that have a harder shell on the outside? It is at this stage that it is placed. After being cut, the gums go to the coating process. The pastilles are left for six hours in a large pan with rotating blades, while the piping system dispenses a sugar and starch syrup that, after drying, forms that sweet, brittle layer.
8- At the end of the stretch and pull, all that remains is to place the packaging. Today, in large factories, the entire process is automated. A machine cuts the packaging sheets while another throws the candy inside. Finally, another closes everything, in a process so fast that you can’t even see it. At this rate, you can produce about a thousand units per minute!
–> Chicle is the name of the latex extracted from the sapodilla tree, a tree that bears a fruit known as sapodilla.
–> Chewing gum was invented in the 19th century by Thomas Adams, who was also a photographer.
–> It is estimated that more than 18 million chewing gums are sold every day in the country.
–> The bubble gum became bubble gum when Adams added hot water to soften the dough.
–> Brazil is the third largest chewing gum producer in the world, with 57 thousand tons produced per year.
–> The largest producer is the United States, with 224 thousand tons per year, followed by China, with 148 thousand tons.
Read too:
– How did chewing gum come about and how is it made?
– Why do some gums bubble and others don’t?
– Is there any natural blue food?