There Could Be A Gross Ingredient Hiding In Your Bubble Gum

Whether you're worried about garlic breath (and don't use one of the many natural ways to get rid of it), need to relieve some stress, or want good oral hygiene, popping in a piece of gum is an easy fix to all of those issues. You're left with an instantly fresh feeling and a burst of your favorite bubble gum flavor. There isn't really a downside to chewing these things, right? Well, that depends on how familiar you are with the ingredients in chewing gum. And there's one ingredient that might be partly responsible for a decline in gum sales in 2023, and it's a little gross: lanolin.

You may know lanolin as an ingredient in skincare products like moisturizers and soaps, but it also makes up part of a chewing gum's base. Lanolin is a waxy secretion which comes from sheep's skin to protect their wool. It has a rubbery texture, which is why your chewing gum is "chewy." And because lanolin is considered to be a standard component of gum base, manufacturers don't have to list it as an ingredient.

The use of lanolin as an ingredient in a gum base is permitted by the FDA, which might make you feel a little better about chewing this stuff. But excessive consumption of lanolin can cause poisoning and because it is essentially wax, it can create a blockage in the intestines. Although it's unclear how much lanolin is in a piece of gum because of the FDA allowance, the amount present is likely quite small. And gum isn't meant to be consumed anyway. Don't worry, though: If you've swallowed a piece before and wondered what happens, our body can't digest the gum base so it just travels through our digestive system relatively intact (No, it doesn't stay there for 7 years).

While having a sheep-derived ingredient in your chewing gum is definitely weird, there are other ingredients like artificial sweeteners and preservatives which might be more harmful for you and they aren't helping the gum industry's lagging sales. And research still shows that chewing bubble gum can help reduce cavities, stress, and bad breath; so maybe moderation is key.