One pint = 45,000 sticks of gum
And while we’re visiting the Pacific Northwest we’ll linger above ground with the Seeleys of Clatskanie, Oregon, who produce 25,000 pounds of pure peppermint oil from the 450 acres of mint on their family run farm.
They’re third generation mint farmers, and one end-use for the byproduct of all of those mint plants is a byproduct dear to our hearts and mouths, as yesterday’s article from The Daily News in Longview reports:
As the mint cooks, the oil also turns into steam and is carried off through gooseneck pipes into a tall metal container akin to a grain silo.
“There we have cooling water that we pump around that, and we condense that into a mixture of oil and water,” Mike said.
That combination runs into receiving cans that look like giant coffee cans with narrow tops.
The oil flows to the top, leaving behind its watery counterpart. The Seeleys skim it off and siphon it into 55 gallon drums.
Because the oil is pure, it goes a long way, Mike (Seeley) noted.
“A pint of oil is a pound the world over, and a pint of it flavors 45,000 sticks of chewing gum,” he said.