A L L
A B O U T
CHEWING
rigins
Oof Chewing
Gum
People worldwide have chewed on natural materials
for hundreds of years. Some of these materials include
thickened resin and latex from certain types of trees,
various sweet grasses, leaves, grains and waxes.
The ancient Greeks chewed mastic gum (or mastiche
pronounced “mas-tee-ka”) for centuries. This substance
is formed from the resin contained in the bark of the mastic
tree found mainly in Greece and Turkey. Grecian women
favored chewing mastic gum to clean their teeth and
sweeten their breath.
The Indians of New England taught American colonists
to quench their thirsts by teaching them how to chew the
gum-like resin that forms on spruce trees when its bark is
cut. In the early 1800s, lumps of this spruce gum were sold
in the eastern United States, making it America’s first
commercial chewing gum. Sweetened paraffin wax became
an acceptable alternative around 1850 and eventually
surpassed spruce gum in popularity.
Modern chewing gum evolved from a chicle-based gum
brought to the United States in the early 1860s. Chicle is
derived from the milky juice (latex) of the sapodilla tree that
grows in tropical rain forests of Central America. This tree is
found mainly in the areas of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize,
which lie within the Yucatan Peninsula.
Due to the increased popularity of chewing gums, the
demand for chicle rose quickly. But, as chicle-suppliers soon
realized, their ability to supply chicle was determined by
the trees in which it was derived. The trees needed an average
of four to eight years of rest between tappings. When
chicle-bearing trees of Central America could not keep up
with demand, manufacturers turned to synthetic gum bases
to continue their business. Paraffin, originally discovered in
1830, was an option as it is colorless, odorless, tasteless and
plentiful but others kept searching for a better material.
An Ohio dentist used rubber to create a gum product for jaw
exercise and gum stimulation. William F. Semple was
honored for this work with the first patent to manufacture
chewing gum in December 1869.
Today, gum base is made of man-made latex and divided
into two major categories, chewing and bubble gum, with the
latter having more elasticity. In recent years, nonstick gum
bases for chewing and bubble gums have been formulated to
satisfy the needs of more consumers.
WRIGLEY’S
CHEWING GUM
INGREDIENTS
Ingredients used in Wrigley’s gum are extensively
tested to ensure that their quality meets
the standards of all local and international
government food regulations.
Gum Base
Gum base puts the “chew” in chewing gum,
binding all the ingredients together for a
smooth, soft texture. The Wrigley Company
uses synthetic gum base materials that provide
longer-lasting flavor, improved texture and
reduced tackiness.
Sweeteners
The finest grades of pure powdered cane sugar,
beet sugar and corn syrup are used in the
production of Wrigley's sugar-sweetened
chewing gums.
Several types of high-intensity sweeteners are
used in Wrigley’s sugarfree products and as
flavor enhancers in some other brands. These
artificial sweeteners deliver long-lasting, noncaloric taste and do not promote tooth-decay.
• Acesulfame K
• Aspartame
• Maltilol
• Sorbitol
• Xylitol
Softeners
Glycerin and other vegetable oil products help
keep the gum soft and flexible by retaining the
proper amount of moisture in Wrigley products.
Flavorings and Colorings
The most popular flavors for chewing gums
come from the mint plant. Mint flavoring for
Wrigley’s chewing gums is extracted from fresh
mint plants grown on farms in the United
States. After the plants are harvested, they go
through a distillation process that extracts the
oils used for flavoring Wrigley brands. Other
Wrigley brands are flavored by a variety of fruit
and spice essences. Colorings are used to
distinguish different flavors.
Preservatives
A small amount of preservative helps maintain
the freshness of all Wrigley products.
The ancient Greeks
chewed a gum-like
substance called
mastic that came from
the bark of a tree.
Generations of the Wrigley family have
provided continuous leadership of the
Company beginning with the founder,
William Wrigley Jr., who was followed
by his son, Philip K. Wrigley, whose son
William Wrigley led the company for 38
years until his death in March of 1999.
His son, Bill Wrigley, Jr. is the current
president and CEO and represents the
fourth generation.
Juicy Fruit®
and Wrigley's®
Spearmint gums
are more than
100 years old.
Your grandparents
probably chewed these
when they were kids.
To grow all the
mint Wrigley needs
for its mint-flavored
gums would take
53 square miles of
farmland—about
30,550 football fields!
Most of Wrigley’s wrapping machines
were designed and built by Wrigley
engineers and machinists, and each
is a marvel of precision made up
of over 6,000 parts.
The Wrigley Company
has 14 manufacturing
factories worldwide;
four in North America,
four in Europe, one
in Africa, one in
India and four in the
Asia/Pacific region.
Wrigley brand gums are enjoyed
in more than 150 countries
throughout the world.
Fifty percent of Americans chew gum, averaging
about 190 sticks per person per year. Chewing gum
consumption varies around the rest of the world.
US
180-190
UK
120-130
Taiwan
90-100
Russia
China
40-50
15-20
Average sticks
per person
enjoyed annually
How Is Wrigley’s Chewing Gum Made?
The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company manufactures chewing gum with long-lasting flavor
and dependable, uniform quality. This includes manufacturing our gum in spotless,
air-conditioned rooms and sampling all ingredients before accepting them into
any of our 14 factories. After raw ingredients are approved for quality, the first
production stage begins.
Melting
The making of Wrigley’s gum
begins by melting and purifying
the gum base, which comes in
small round balls.
Mixing
The melted base is poured into
a mixer that can hold up to one
ton of ingredients. Sweeteners
and flavors are added at just the
right moment and in just the right
amounts and then slowly mixed.
Scoring
Rolling
From the mixers, a large “loaf” of gum is sent through a series of rollers
that form it into a thin, wide ribbon. Each pair of rollers is set closer
together than the previous pair, gradually reducing the thickness of the
gum. A light coating of finely powdered sugar or sugar substitute is added
during this process to keep the gum from sticking and to enhance flavor.
At the end of the rolling
process, the continuous
ribbon of gum is then cut
into a pattern for sticks
or small rectangular gum
centers, depending on
what type of gum is
being made.
Conditioning
The scored gum is then moved to a
temperature-controlled environment
to cool and ensure the finished gum
will have the right consistency and
stay fresh on store shelves.
CHEWING
GUM
STICKS
Wrapping
After cooling and tempering,
skilled operators break the
sheets of sticks up into
sections and feed them into
the wrapping machine. In one
continuous process, the
wrapping machine receives
and wraps the sticks, applies
the outer wrapper, and seals
the end of the package.
CHEWING
GUM
PELLETS
Breaking and Coating
Packaging
After tempering, the gum centers
are broken into individual pieces.
The pieces are then fed to a
spray drier that forms the hard
coating around the gum center.
It tumbles the pieces while a
prepared syrup mixture, made
of filtered water, sweeteners, and
coloring is sprayed onto the gum.
This combination of tumbling and
spray coating forms a candy shell
around the soft gum centers.
This is where the pellet-style
gum is put into the formed
plastic compartments of the
blister pack. The package
is heat sealed with a foil
backing, and inserted into
a cardboard sleeve.
410 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
312-644-2121
www.wrigley.com