A n d r e w s G u m W o r l d

Today’s Food Processing website reports on a new version of Trident gum which uses Recaldent, which actively protects, strengthens and rebuilds tooth enamel. Trident Xtra Care will be only gum in the US that will have this ingredient, and here’s how it works:

A unique form of calcium derived from milk, Recaldent increases tooth remineralization (strengthening) over and above the salivary stimulation from regular sugar-free gum. Cadbury Adams holds exclusive rights in the U.S. to use Recaldent in gum, and Trident is the only gum brand that contains this ingredient.

Of course, the real trick with addressing the dilemmas represented by all these gum-spattered streets and by-ways of the world would be to discover a bio-degradable gum, which is a task that Revolymer, Ltd. (which grew out of the University of Bristol; see below), is indeed taking on.

They’ve got a great website with videos and other details on the initial research into a gum which appears, in preliminary trials, to disintegrate within months in regular rain water.

Revolymer is testing their product at the epicentre of committed gum clean-up efforts (as you’ve read in earlier postings), the United Kingdom.

As their website notes, they are conducting…

…street trials in towns in the UK with the help of local councils to prove our product is removed naturally compared to commercial gums which remain stuck to the pavement.

 

(As noted, some of the initial research that led to the formation of “clean gum” and the formation of Revolymer was conducted at University of Bristol. To read more, and to see a photo of Professor Terence Cosgrove wielding a piece of the “clean gum” in question, click here.)

Gum, originally uploaded by Unique View.

An article early this week in the Athens Banner-Herald analyzed the health of confectionery sales amidst a weak economy.

While the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that candy and chewing gum prices have grown by 6 percent over the last year, sales have increased 3.9 percent during a similar period of time, according to the National Confectioners Association (at AndrewsGumWorld, we like to think that the NCA is a second cousin, perhaps, of the International Chewing Gum Association, which you can find on our Blogroll).

In fact, if you want to go especially geeky on tracking chewing gum sales (as you might guess we do at AndrewsGumWorld), you can go to the NCA site and download PowerPoint presentations from their 2008 State of the Industry conference held earlier this year, including the especially informative “The Portable Breath Freshening and Gum Juggernaut” presentation by Mike Wege of the Hershey Corporation (quick insight from slide #2: chewing gum sales have grown 6.9 percent between 2004 and 2007).

But as for candy and chewing gum sales during the current economic downturn, the Banner-Herald article talked to a number of experts who weighed in on the counterintuitive trends for the sweet sales trends:

The candy industry generally sees sales rise by 1 percent to 3 percent each year, representing “a slow but steady growth,” which economic downturns do not strongly hamper, said Susan Fussell, vice president of communications for the National Confectioners Association.”We don’t very often see huge spikes or huge declines in candy sales,” Fussell said.

One explanation for the trend is candy, while considered a luxury item, has existed throughout its history as a relatively cheap luxury, Fussell said.

“So, it’s not necessarily something that people cut out of their budget, because it’s so affordable,” Fussell said. “And I think that’s one of the big reasons (for the stability of sales).”

That stability and Americans’ love of chocolate has continued, despite the economic conditions that begs the question of whether the country is in a recession.

“Practically, we are (in a recession); from a practical point of view,” said Doug Bachtel, a professor of Housing and Consumer Economics at the University of Georgia. “Because of prices, a lot of people are hurting.”

When a recession - at least three consecutive months of declines in several major economic indicators - occurs, people generally cut back on recreational activities and unnecessary purchases, instead spending their earnings on basic commodities like food and clothing. One would think consumers would kick their candy habits.

“See, but that’s where the (relatively low) price comes in,” Bachtel said about candy, which he considers as typically an add-on, spur-of-the-moment buy.

India’s Koncept Analytics, released its “Chewing Gum Market - A Growing Confectionery Segment: 2008 Edition” earlier today, noting that among confections — chocolate, sugar and chewing gum— chewing gum continues to hold the smallest, but most concentrated share of the confectionery market.

The report notes that Wrigley’s purchase by Mars will make them the biggest gum player (over Cadbury) worldwide, and that emerging markets are making a difference:

However, the emerging markets are providing the growth impetus to this industry with their economic growth, rising middle class and increasing spending power.

To read a synopsis (and Table of Contents) of the US$850 report, click on the report title above.

G. Washington’s teeth (LOC), originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

We’ve written earlier about the various benefits of gum, ranging from smartness to generally welcoming fresh breath, but in some cases, it is not so, according to a report today in Ireland’s Independent newspaper

The news story, titled “Agony of the daily grind…” talks about the challenges of teeth grinding, its solutions, and things to avoid, including this warning on chewing gum:

Avoid chewing gum: the repetitive action of chewing is almost identical to the motion of the jaw during bruxism.

As a kid, I grew up in Olympia, Washington, where the local afternoon daily was called, then, The Daily Olympian, which we simply called the Daily O (famously, when Matt Groening, of Simpsons fame, went to The Evergreen State College in Olympia, he did a spoof edition for on-campus newspaper called “The Daily Zero”).

Yesterday, my hometown paper — now just called The Olympian — ran a quiz on gum, based on information from the American Dietetic Association. To see how well you did, check out “Comments” for this post to see the answers.

1. Chewing gum is an aid in appetite control.

True or false?

2. Sugar-free gum counts as a “free” food in weight management food exchange lists.

True or false?

3. Chewing gum is a good tool to prevent mindless snacking.

True or false?

4. Chewing gum is a distraction during tests.

True or false?

5. For some people, chewing gum relieves stress.

True or false?

6. Chewing gum causes a decrease in blood flow to the brain.

True or false?

7. If you chew gum while cooking, you won’t nibble as much.

True or false?

8. Chewing gum burns 11 calories an hour.

True or false?

Wayne’s Word is an informative natural history site about botany and biology created by Dr. Wayne Armstrong and friends at the Palomar College Arboretum, and it includes a great and detailed copyrighted article about how gum gets from the Manilkara Zapota (pictured above) — a native tree from Central America — (or perhaps other sources) to your mouth.

Read (and see) a lot more below:

Chicle and rubber producing plants

Tylene Levesque posted a picture of this great gum bin on another cool site about design (and in this case, ecologically friendly design products and ideas), Inhabitat.

The Bubble Gum Bin is designed by Anna Bullus, who used Gumnetic to make it, which is a new biodegradable material she developed from sterilized used chewing gum and bio-resin (there’s the best kind of irony in here somewhere).

Well, I suppose you could (and as it turns out, you can), but if your mom is like mine, she’ll tell you it will stay in your digestive system for seven years.

However, there’s a great site called Snopes that helps debunk all sorts of urban myths (i.e. if you forward this e-mail to 20 of your friends, Bill Gates will send you a gazillion dollars), and on that site, Barbara “The Gumshoe Report” Mikkelson (see, I told you there will be puns in the world of gum) tells the whole story about the risks of swallowing gum (as well as telling the story of loggers, the state of Maine and the Alamo and their relationship to the history of gum!).

The Seven Year Glitch