What Is a Chewing Gum Plant?
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. Does this Spark an idea?
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Preparing The Base
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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
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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.
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Cutting & Finishing
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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
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Plant packaging equipment dispenses the gum into small containers and seals them with cellophane to retain freshness and flavor.
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References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Creatas/Getty Images
