Nobody knows for sure when man started chewing resins extracted from trees, but there are historical records that several ancient peoples, such as the Greeks, already had this custom. The habit was also common on the American continent, even before European colonization. Latex from the sapodilla tree – the tree that produces sapodilla – was used as chewing gum by the Mayans and Aztecs, among other pre-Columbian civilizations. To this resin the natives gave the name of chicle. The delicacy we know today emerged at the end of the 19th century. More precisely in 1872, the year in which the American inventor Thomas Adams manufactured the first batch of gum in the shape of a ball and flavoring the natural resins with licorice extract. In the following decades, he opened several factories to meet the growing demand of American consumers for the new product.
In the middle of the 20th century, especially after World War II (1939-1945), natural resins were replaced by substances synthesized from petroleum refining. “The reason for this change was the manufacturing cost, since natural resin is much more expensive than synthetic rubber”, says chemical engineer Múcio Almeida, product development manager at Adams do Brasil. From the 1960s onwards, the first sugar-free gum appeared, which, according to the manufacturers, in addition to reducing the risk of cavities, helps to keep teeth clean, as it stimulates the production of saliva, which removes food particles. With or without sugar, it’s good to be careful with this delicacy. Young children who swallow the gum are at risk of having their airways blocked or having their intestinal flow interrupted. Another warning: chewing on an empty stomach can cause stomach problems, as there is an unnecessary stimulus to the production of gastric enzymes.
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1. The manufacture of gum begins with the production of its raw material: the base gum. It has ingredients such as synthetic rubber and paraffin (both derived from petroleum), emulsifying substances (vegetable oils that bind the mixture) and antioxidants (chemical preservatives that extend the life of the product). The recipe still uses calcium carbonate, a kind of treated lime that serves to give more volume to the mixture.
2. All the gum base ingredients are placed in large heated pans, with paddles that turn to make the product homogeneous. When the mixture is ready, it is poured into small plates, which are cooled to room temperature. There are factories that only make gum base and then resell it
3. The gum base is bought by the gum factories themselves, where it is melted in large pans and receives other ingredients: sugar or sweetener, aromas (generally mixtures of several essential oils), dyes, citric acids (which give that sour taste some chewing gum) and glycerin (a substance that helps bind the product)
4. When this liquid mixture is ready, it is again poured into plates to cool and harden. Afterwards, the plates pass through a machine that cuts them into thin, long strips. These strips are then sliced to the size of each gum. If it’s a simple treat, like Ping Pong, it’s ready to pack.
5. Special gums, however, go through other steps before packaging. A good example are those that have a liquid inside, which drips into the mouth after the first bite. To make them, a machine injects the flavored broth inside the gum strip, before it is sliced into the size of each gum.
6. There are also products that have a shell around the gum, which dissolves after a few seconds of chewing. To form it, the already sliced pieces of gum are bathed in a syrup made from sugar or sweetener. As this “syrup” is heated, it evaporates and leaves solid particles on the surface of the gum.
7. The last step is packaging, which can be done with paper, plastic or boxes, depending on the product. From here, the gum, which started out as a bland rubber made from petroleum, is ready to be distributed and sold.
The difference between chewing gum and bubble gum is already apparent in the first step of manufacturing the candy. The raw material (base gum) of bubble gum has, in addition to the ingredients described in item 1, a plastic, generally polyvinyl acetate. This oil derivative helps to form a film around the product, giving the necessary elasticity for the consumer to go blowing balls around