When you put a gum to your mouth is it just for the purpose of chewing your brains out? Or, are there other benefits to consider? I wrote Wrigley to find out…

Dear Gum Gurus:

If ever there were a name that has stuck with gum over the years, it’s Wrigley. So can you help me out with a few gum-related questions?

If you removed the sweeteners, softeners, flavorings, colorings and preservatives from chewing gum, what would the actual gum stuff be … and where does it come from?

Your website says there have been multiple clinical studies and reviews that have indicated that chewing sugar-free gum after meals can help protect your teeth. But what about sugar-loaded gum? Are there any benefits to chewing that after meals besides killing the toxic taste sometimes caused by my wife’s cooking?

Finally, if chewing sugar-free gum helps improve oral health as you claim, are there any studies that attest to its benefits related to chewing it after oral sex? If this question made you blush or feel uncomfortable, please ignore it or have someone else type the answer.

Great movie idea: Gum with the Wind. Would you watch it?

A Consumer Care Representative responded with:

Thank you for your interest in the “Benefits of Gum.” We are excited about this new study and are always happy to hear from our consumers on how gum has impacted their lives.

The “Benefits of Gum” booklet will not be available for mass distribution. However, you may go to our website, www.wrigley.com, and click the “Benefits of Chewing” section to view some of our findings. Please continue to periodically check this portion of our website as we are always updating it with new information.

We hope this information has been helpful and thanks again for contacting the Wrigley Company.

Final Thoughts: Rather than provide specific answers to my questions in her reply, the Consumer Care Representative directed me to the Benefits of Chewing section of the Wrigley website. Fair enough, there’s interesting information there. However, as I mentioned in my email, Wrigley’s website is where I started in the first place and the questions I submitted in my inquiry weren’t answered there. So that kind of left me feeling stranded like a piece of gum stuck on hold under a school desk.

When it comes to the benefits of gum, there are probably many more options to chews from than you thought. After conducting further research, these were some of the more unconventional benefits such as using gum to improve your memory or as bait to catch catfish. For more ideas, check out 7 Unusual Uses for Bubble Gum and Chew and Save with Gum’s Other Uses.

Some other information Wrigley posted online also worth taking a look at includes How Gum is Made and History of Gum. I discovered that chewing on natural materials dates back hundreds of years. Today, gum base for chewing and bubble gum is made of man-made latex. Although, that doesn’t mean you should ever consider using it in place of a condom.

Here’s where you can learn more about chewing and gum products from Wrigley. But when you contact a manufacturer, sometimes their response may make you wonder whether you tried to bite off more than you can chew when you Write The Company.

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