Random Article
Keep Asking
Satisfying curiosity one question at a time. Send your questions to: keepasking@howstuffworks.com.
What is the point of aspartame in chewing gum?
June 24, 2009
1 Comment | Add Comment
You Asked
What is the point of aspartame in chewing gum? — Chelsea, Anchorage, Alaska
Marshall Answered
Most people prefer their gum to have some kind of flavor. So chewing gum is made by adding flavorings to gum base. The flavorings usually come in the form of a sweetener plus something like peppermint.
Powdered sugar and/or corn syrup are traditional sweeteners. The problem with sugar and/or corn syrup is that they aren’t great for your teeth. Having that much sugar in contact with your teeth for a long period of time tends to encourage cavities. Aspartame is a sweetener that does not cause tooth decay. It also eliminates any calories that sugar would add to the gum.
For more info see: How to make gum
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener. Sugar is bad for your teeth, and some diabetic people like gum, but cant have sugar. So they use aspartame instead. You will find aspartame in many diet sodas, and products that normally have sugar, to sugar-free. Another form of sweetener is saccharin. There is an experiment to try, to test for aspartame and sugar in liquids.
You will need-
2 test tubes
Diet and regular pepsi/coke
yeast
2 small balloons.
Procedure- pour the diet in a test tube. do the same in the other, with the regular. put a little yeast in each balloon. put the end of the balloon on the top of the test tubes. at the same time hold the balloons upward. lean them against the wall and wait for 2 days. What do you notice?
Explanation- Yeast like sugar. In the regular soda, the balloon should have swelled up (If it didn’t check for holes and retry the experiment) but the diet balloon didn’t. also there should be a layer of fizzy alchohol on top.(this is fermentation) The diet didn’t because it doesn’t have sugar, but aspartame.