Science: October 2004 Archives

... why Orbit gum seems to have the same addictive powers as crack?

It's because it contains just about every artificial sweetener on the list!

ok. ingredients are as follows
Sorbitol. The first of two nutrative sweeteners. Too much of it can cause damage in eyes and nerves. Plus, it's got that pesky little laxative effect, but I think you'd have to ingest a lot of it.

Gum base. What makes the gum chewy.

Natural and artificial flavors. Not specified.

Mannitol. A nutrative sweetener, as opposed to the other fakies down below. Sounds like it's better for you, too. Except for that part about its laxative effect.

Xylitol. Cool, sothing flavor that appears to taste minty

Aspartame. Who knows on this one. Everyone says such opposite things. Still, it's kind of scary that all of these have been linked to cancer and other disorders etc.

Acesulfame K. Another artificial sweetener that may potentially cause cancer.

Sucralose. Most people know it as Splenda. Splenda says it's perfectly safe. Others disagree. In an interesting sidenote, a study conducted on rats found that the ones who were fed artificial sweeteners gained weight.

BHT (To maintain freshness). A preservative that might cause cancer, but it also might help treat herpes and AIDS.

Red 40 Lake.

Yellow 6.

Phenylketonurics. An inherited disorder that makes it difficult for people to synthesize protein

Phenylalanine. This is an isolated amino acid that makes up 50% of aspartame and is harmful to people with a certain kind of genetic makeup.

Of course, I did all my research on the internet. But it's interesting to see how much synthesized material goes into a food product.