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Is It Really Unsafe to Swallow Gum?

Bubble YumAh, one of the eternal questions, right up there with "Do you really have to wait an hour after eating before you swim?" and "How many licks does it take to get the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?"

And now the question is answered at the Scientific American Web site. The old wisdom warned that you shouldn't swallow gum because it takes the body seven years to digest it. But the folks at Scientific American have investigated and the answer is ... after the jump!

Dr. David Milov of the Nemours Children's Clinic in Florida says there is no basis for this fear. Gum does not stay in the digestive tract for seven years. Dr. Rodger Little at Duke University agrees with Milov.

Now, this doesn't mean that all of us can start swallowing our gum with abandon. If a person does it on a regular basis, then there's the possibility that it could cause a blockage. So you should just continue to place it under tables and the seats of movie theaters (just kidding - don't do that either!).

Now, this brings up another question: if gum isn't swallowed, can it be considered a food?

[thanks to Scott for the tip]

Filed Under: Science, Pop Food, Ingredients
Tags: candy, chewing gum, digestive tract, fact or fiction, gum, pop food, sciam.com, scientific american, swallowing gum

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 5)

Matthew

10-11-2007 @4:39PM Matthew said... I used to manage a gelato store, and every time someone other than a child would order the bubble gum gelato I couldn't help myself but point out that they just chose the one flavor in the shop that's based on something basically inedible.
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mrMan

10-11-2007 @5:55PM mrMan said... ...and this article just made you a liar for all of those years!
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ann marie

10-11-2007 @8:06PM ann marie said... in back to eden it says pickles are inedible....denatured with vinegar...i dont know if thats true or not.

i do remember from one of my classes that food is considered anything that when digested is oxidized and yields energy.

in humans that leaves out things like wood i believe....although other species can digest wood.
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Deuz Augustine

10-12-2007 @12:09AM Deuz Augustine said... I've always swallowed all the gum I eat, and I'm not about to stop.
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kevjohn

10-12-2007 @12:05PM kevjohn said... I always swallow too, at about a 90% rate. Good thing I don't chew all that often.
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Simon Arch

10-15-2007 @4:20PM Simon Arch said... Pickling is not denaturation. Pickling is an ancient and well-practised form of food preservation. Almost every culture around the world throughout recorded history has employed pickling in a variety of ways on a huge variety of foods, from eggs and meats to vegetables and fruits. If pickles were inedible and of no nutritional value they would have died out centuries ago.
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Marilyn

10-17-2007 @8:57AM Marilyn said... Well, I have been swallowing gum since I can remember, and now that I am 60 I remember little, but do know going #2 sure was a chore way back then. I still swallow, but not as much, unless I am very hungry and it just goes down after a few chews. I do not reccomend a constant diet of chewed gum - best to spit it out or chance living with hemroids.
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Ben

10-16-2007 @2:50PM Ben said... I'm no doctor, but I would think that the acids in a human's stomach would cause the gum to disolve fairly easily.
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Victoria

10-16-2007 @2:57PM Victoria said... I'm too afraid to swallow gum for fear of choking on it if it somehow gets stuck in my throat. I think I'll continue to wrap it in tissue when I'm done and throw it in the trash. I never put it under seats and try to avoid throwing it on the ground to prevent anyone from getting it stuck to the bottom of a shoe.
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crazyone2

10-16-2007 @9:54PM crazyone2 said... Well duh I have swollowed so much gum If the tale was true I would be blowing a bubble every time I farted
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Laurie

10-16-2007 @3:07PM Laurie said... It would have been a better article by far, and much more informative if the article had stated just how long it does take to digest gum.
Why did they leave that out. Okay, it doesn't take 7 years, but how long does it actually take? Does it just pass through like any other thing?
I like to chew gum, but I always spit it out into a piece of paper and throw it in the garbage.

This article did not give a full answer, it just stated that it does not take 7 years. What a waste of time to read that, I knew that from reading this previously, but I thought it would state the facts behind the digestion of gum. Thanks for nothing, really.
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vincetta

10-16-2007 @3:13PM vincetta said... You can't digest gum , it just passes through the intestines and comes out whole if it doesn't get stuck in your intestines.
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Lacey Williams

10-19-2007 @1:18PM Lacey Williams said... I SWALLOW MY GUM 98% OF THE TIME AND I'M STILL GOING STRONG! CAN'T STOP ME NOW!
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Lizzy

10-16-2007 @3:20PM Lizzy said... Gum goes through your body just like anything else.

Not to sound gross but I've swallowed gum for years, and I've seen it come out the other way with everything else I've eaten the day before.
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judi

10-16-2007 @3:48PM judi said... When my son was little I would tell him that if he swallowed his gum it would blow a bubble out of his behind the next time he farted!
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Jacob

10-16-2007 @3:32PM Jacob said... #5 .... Thanks for always cleaning up the MESS!
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jwbecotte

10-16-2007 @3:37PM jwbecotte said... Gum would pass through your system within hours, depending on your health and diet. It is not broken down and digested. It is only passed through. The gum is treated the same as a penny or any other foreign object one would swallow.

Think about the drug smugglers who fill the balloons with drugs and swallow them. Your body would treat the gum just the same.
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3FingersGuido

10-16-2007 @3:40PM 3FingersGuido said... What if the swallowed gum makes it through the digestive tract and gets stuck at the sphincter opening? Can you blow a bubble if you have gas?
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smyers

10-16-2007 @3:38PM smyers said... Ok everyone. Vincetta is right. Your body does not actually digest the gum. It can however break apart slightly while in the stomach which causes it to come out in small bits...kind of like corn! We don't digest corn either. Gum just becomes a waste that is later sent out in the form of well you know!
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breanna

10-16-2007 @4:36PM breanna said... i chew gum about 90% of my day...atleast 4 pieces a day and i swallow the gum about 3 times...i dont kno if thats badd or not...will it cause a blockage???
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91 Comments / 5 Pages

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