Gum Manufactoring

The gum base is melted at about 115 °C (240 °F) due to its natural melting point. When it has a thick viscosity like maple syrup it is filtered through a fine mesh screen. Then disloved particles are removed by a cantrifuge.

Gum Base

http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://www.walgom-dz.com/walgom%2520products.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.walgom-dz.com/produit%2520eng.php&usg=__EbLpCVt7Yxx6L9GDqo_EZ9xEA34=&h=480&w=639&sz=97&hl=en&start=17&um=1&tbnid=23VOqkPcs6hkqM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgum%2Bbase%26hl%3Den%26um%3D1

Chewing gum manufacturing will differ between different brands of gum. Typically, it begins with the gum base.

The gum base is non digestible, insoluble with water and accounts for 15-20% of the chewing gum, in sugar free gum this figure is 20-25% and in bubble gum; 25-30%. It is used to carry the sweeteners and flavourings which gum is chewed for.

Gum base of bubble gum is made of different properties to that of chewing gum. Bubble gum must have the ability to blow bubbles so there are more elastomers present. Elastomers are polymers with the property of elasticity.

Some gum can contain an acid taste. Companies will choose their gum fillings around this. For example, non-acid flavour gum contains calcium carbonate as a filler while acid flavour gum uses talc. This is because the acid reacts with calcium carbonate making a gas which would not be pleasant.

Short History of Gum production

Chewing or bubble gum was origionally made out of chicle, a natural gum made fom a tropical tree of Central America, the Manilkara chicle . While the 'wriggly' chewing gum company used to use this kind of gum it now, along with most other chewing gum manufactorers, uses rubber, for economic purposes and also to just improve quality of thier products. Chicle is still used in Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicle