Is chewing gum made of pig fat?

Chewing gum is a daily and popular snack for both adults and children. The topic of whether chewing gum is made of pig fat is commonly discussed among people who love chewing gum in daily life. Some people think chewing gum is made of pig fat. They fear chewing too much gum, which contains pig fat, may negatively affect their bodies. Is chewing gum truly made of pig fat? Let's find out the answers below.

To find the correct answer, we must first know what raw materials are usually added when making chewing gum at first. One of the most important raw materials in chewing gum is gum base, which looks like a fatty piece of meat from the appearance. Gum base is made by mixing at high temperatures with the main ingredients, for example, rubber, resin, wax, emulsifier and softener, antioxidant and preservative, and filler.  

Chewing gum is made of natural or synthetic gum base with many different edible ingredients such as rubber and resin. Together with the gum base, then adding powdered sugar, liquid glucose, lecithin, glycerin, flavors, and colors, and sometimes there are chewing gum manufacturers also add other food-grade ingredients such as citric acid, mixing all together and forming chewing gum by chewing gum machinery. After knowing which ingredients are added to make chewing gum, it doesn't contain pig fat or other animal or vegetable oil.

 

But why do some people think chewing gum is made of pig fat? Here, we share some reasons. As you know, chewing gum is made of a colloidal base material. Usually, we call it gum base. The common knowledge is that the collagen in pig skin can extract rich gelatin. That is the first reason some people believe that chewing gum contains gelatin from pig fat by mistake. Chewing gum doesn't contain any gelatin, as you can see from the information above about the raw materials and ingredients used to make chewing gum. Secondly, in the ingredients of chewing gum, there's a kind of glycerin, while some of the natural greases in glycerin are from flora and fauna in the natural world. Pig fat is also one of the common animal fats. That's the second reason people think chewing gum is pig fat. The glycerin in chewing gum is food-grade synthetic glycerine; most are made from propylene. Edible grade glycerin, in addition to glycerol, there are esters, glucose, and other reducing sugars belonging to polyol glycerol. In addition to moisturizing and moisturizing functions, glycerin also has high activity, anti-oxidation, promotion of alcohol, and other special effects. Besides chewing gum, it's also widely used in other confectionery products. However, some chewing gum manufacturers don't add glycerin based on their chewing gum types and recipes. Thirdly, the chewing gum, after chewing for a while, looks like white pig fat. According to what has been said above, chewing gum looks like a piece of white fat, mainly caused by the main raw material of chewing gum- gum base. Because the gum base looks like a piece of fat on the outside, the gum produced from the gum base will also look like a piece of fat.

So now we all know the answer: no, chewing gum is not made of pig fat, and we don't have to worry about that when we chew chewing gum.

As an established manufacturer with the famous brand of NICE GUMBASE, it is strict in selecting raw materials from the beginning. We choose high-quality food-grade raw materials, such as rubber, resin, wax, emulsifier, softener, antioxidant, and filler, as the main raw material of our gum base and apply for HALAL certificates. So our gum base belongs to halal food, and Muslim friends can eat securely. 

In Chaoshan city of China, there's an old popular snack named lard candy. This lard candy's raw materials are mainly pig fat, sugar, and powder.  
Its characteristics are sweet and never tired, lubricated and refreshing, soft and fragrant. This kind of lard candy has been produced for a long time and is popular in the local area. It is also sold to other cities outside Chaoshan. Though pig fat contains cholesterol and saturated fat in pig fat, the right amount of pig fat can not only give the body energy but also taste delicious. 
Next time someone asks whether chewing gum is made of pig fat, do you know the correct answer after reading this article? 
We are professional on gum base as well as chewing gum. Please call or email us if you have any other doubts about chewing gum, bubble gum, or gum base. All colleagues in Wuxi Gumbase will try our best to answer your questions and solve your worries.




Author: Wuxi Gum Base
Publication Date: 8/10/2022