Nutritional Facts on Chewing Gum. Are Figures Provided for Chewing or Ingesting It?

Factual Questions
1

Please notice how I tactfully avoid using the terms spit, swallow and wad in the same sentence. My fellow pervs on the board are the last people in the world I want to hear wise-cracks from with regards to such a pressing, life-or-death question.

Not that I’m much of a calorie counter, and just for the record, I really don’t keep tabs on my daily intake of Dietary Fiber. But I’m curious as to the “Nutritional Facts” provided on chewing gum packages.

For example, on Wrigley’s Extra Sugarfree Gum:[ul][li]Weight (grams) 2.7[]Calories 5[]Carbohydrates (grams) 2[]Polyols (grams) 2[]Protein 0[]Fat/Cholesterol 0[]Sodium 0[]Other Minerals and Vitamins Neg.[/ul][/li]
My question is a simple one: Is the (FDA mandated) nutritional information on a package of gum based on:[list=a][li]Chewing the gum,[]Ingesting the gum, or[]Are those figures one in the same?[/list][/li]
My inclination is that the ‘5 calorie’ figure provided is based solely on chewing the gum for a reasonable amount of time and then disposing of it in a proper fashion. (Like under your seat, out on the sidewalk, below your desk, atop a subway platform or under the bar). But I can’t be certain.

For starters, no where on the package does it state a warning about ingesting chewing gum.
In this day in age, where the trial lawyers would have sued the gum companies for failing to provide proper warnings about the hazards of not disposing of one’s gum in the correct fashion, I have to assume there are no negative consequences to gulping down a flavorless wad of your favorite brand. But who am I to say for sure?

Secondly, if the nutritional figures are (as I assume) based on chewing and not “eating” the gum;
How can there be that many artificial flavors and chemicals in one little stick of Extra sugar-free gum that it puts 2 whole grams of carbs into your body via the saliva? That seems excessive.

I e-mailed Wrigley’s in Chicago and asked them my question. I copied it, changed the brand names and asked Trident the same thing. Presently, neither have yet to reply.

Now I personally don’t think it’s that difficult a question to answer, but to this date, I’ve yet to receive either of their replies. So hence, I ask you all: Are the Nutritional Facts on Chewing Gum Provided for the Chewing or Ingesting of It?

Thanks

2

I can answer #2 easily. The answer is (4) none of the above. Caloric content is determined by adding together the Calorie values of the contents, regardless of whether one can reasonably expect them to be consumed, or even produce that many calories when consumed.

Your sugar-free gum contains 2 grams of polyols (probably sorbitol and/or xylitol). These are carbohydrates, so your gum contains 2 grams of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates contribute roughly 3 Calories per gram, so your gum is said to “have” 6 Calories. Nutritional labels round off to the nearest 5 Calories, so there you are.

3

My nutrition professor (PhD, RD) briefly mentioned during a lecture that gum doesn’t really have much nutritional value if swallowed, though it does provide some fiber.

4

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_114c.html

“Turns out you don’t count fiber, which is abundant in bran. Even though fiber is a carbohydrate, it passes through the body undigested, hence no calories.”

The count appears to have some regard for what’s absorbed at an rate.

You’d say all foods are rated solely on their composition? That sounds likely, though I don’t have a cite or anything.

5

Just in case someone else wants the answer to such a critically important question, this reply just showed up in my e-mail box.

It’ll be interesting to see if Trident has the same response