You're never too old to enjoy chewing gum.
Chewing gum is produced in fully mechanized production facilities. The plants that produce chewing gum all follow the same process steps, with the only fluctuations being in the gum flavoring, shape and whether the final product is coated or uncoated.
Preparing The Base
Gum bases are both natural and artificial. The bark and soil found in chicle, the natural base for chewing gum harvested from the sapodilla tree, are removed. This requires melting, drying and sterilizing the chicle. Artificial bases require no processing.
Cooking & Kneading
The base is pumped into large vats in the plant, where flavorings, sweetening agents and softeners are added. The vats have large kneading mechanisms that twist and turn the ingredients until they are pliable and smooth.
Cutting & Finishing
After the gum reaches the preferred consistency, another plant machine flattens and cuts the gum sheets either into small squares to be coated with a hard candy shell or thin, rectangular strips that become uncoated sticks of chewing gum.
Packaging
Plant packaging equipment dispenses the gum into small containers and seals them with cellophane to retain freshness and flavor.
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