Origin of Gum Ingredients:

Where did the Sugar Come From:

Sugarcane is grown best in sub-tropical climates, such as Australia, Brazil, Colombia and Cuba. In Queensland, Australia, sugarcane takes about 14 months to grow to its full extent, at this point it is harvested, generally between June and December when rain is least frequent, this is when levels of sugar in the canes reach their height.  

Sugarcane is then harvested by a bladed machine, similar to a combine harvester, which cuts the leaves from the canes and chops the stems into small chunks. The chunks are collected and taken to the sugar mill.

The Sugarcane Harvester.

The Corn Processing and Milling.

To make the syrup the starch is left to soak in vats of water containing a starch eating enzyme, which breaks it down to almost pure glucose, syrup.

In the mill the bits of cane are shredded and compressed in rollers that squeeze all of the juices from the stalks. The juices are collected in vats where they are boiled slowly; lime is added to remove impurities.  Most of the fluid is then evaporated out of the mix, leaving a syrupy, sugar-based, mixture. The syrup is boiled slowly while small sugar crystals are added in, this speeds up the crystallisation process of the sugar. This is the finishing line for allot of sugars, but in chewing gum, powdered sugar is necessary. To make this the sugar crystals are ground down into the fine powder by a machine. The sugar will then take a boat trip to gum factories in America and Europe.

Where did Corn Syrup Come From:

Corn syrup is made from the starch from maize/corn.  Corn syrup mainly contains glucose which is pure sugar; hence it is used as a sweetener.

Corn is grown in many countries in the world and is very common, so it would not be unusual for the corn mills to be in the same regions as the gum companies, this would reduce costs of shipping.

Corn is harvested using a bladed machine that cuts off the heads, or ears, of the corn and collects them for use in food products or as a food in themselves.

When the corn reaches the mill, it gets soaked in hot mildly acidic water for up to 30 hours. This makes the corn swell and the acid in the water helps to promote the release of starch.  The corn then enters the mill where it is ground into a slurry like paste. The largest solid parts left in the slurry are filtered out leaving only a paste, this slurry is then ground down even further which releases the starch and gluten from the corn.  The gluten is removed using a rapid spinning technique which separates the substances.

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