I received a comment on this site mentioning the product “Neuro Gum”, so I went to the website www.getneuro.com and I see a compressed gum named “Energy & Focus” which contains Caffeine, Theanine, B6 and B12. It claims it provides the right balance between “energy” and “calmness”.
I have not tried this product (I wonder about its taste, chewability, flavor lasting, …) but as it falls within the functional gum category, I am glad to mention it here in this website.
The company TWO WISE CHIMPS, from UK, presents natural chewing gums in combination with a few different concepts:
Again , this goes in the direction that I have already commented in the past: CBD, Natural gum base… and it is presented in sleeved blisters with 9 pieces of coated pellets each one.
The website is www.twowisechimps.co.uk
Last ISM Fair in Cologne I had the chance to meet the founders of the French company ONE GUM. This company commercializes a tabletted (compressed) chewing gum containing Vitamins B3, B6, B12 and Caffeine (50mg per piece). The interesting feature of this product is that it is made of two layers: One of the layers contains the caffeine, which is separated from the other layer that contains the gum and the vitamins B. This allows a faster absortion of the caffeine because it is not trapped in the gum structure.
This is produced in Denmark using patented technology. Other functional gums in the market use the double-layer feature, which has advantages not only related to the release of the active ingredients, but also related to the manufacture of the product itself.
You can learn more about it at www.onegum.eu
The italian company SINTAL GROUP offers in their portoflio an interesting range of food supplements, but the ones of interest for us are the functional gums that come under the brand “MD’E GUM” (www.gumde.eu). Using the tabletting technology, which avoids the typical high temperatures of the traditional extrusion production method, they have a complete range of varieties, which includes:
The chew of the product is good, avoiding the crumbliness of some tabletted gums that I have seen in the market. The information related to the products contains data related to the release of the active ingredients, which enhances the reliability and professionality of the product.
Continuing with functional gums, some days ago I found this interesting example from Israel. The company (Supherb) has been manufacturing dietary supplements for over fiteen years, but recently decided to use chewing gum as a delivery system for such supplements. They launched the brand “Tab in Gum” (www.tabingum.com) for this purpose. One of the most interesting claims of this product is that it may contain up to 800mg of active ingredients, which is more than other functional chewing gums in the market. The company also claims that the active ingredient is released inside the mouth within 45 seconds. This gum does not use a tabletting technology (which seems to be the most common way to produce functional gums) and the product is coated.
The product is presented in different varieties:
I have in my hands some samples of “Chew Pod”, in the two verison that exist: “Energy on demand” and “Sleep on demand”.
Both are a very good example of tabletted gum (made from gum in pwoder by means of a tabletting machine). The gum pieces have 3 horizontal layers, I assume that they serve technological purposes (like minimizing the stickiness to the tabletting machine) rather than aesthetical ones. The crumbliness (quite common in these type of products) is minimized, or i would say, even non-existing. The flavor has a very good lasting. They come in blisterpacks wth 8 pieces each.
The one that claims “Energy” contains Caffeine, Taurine and Guaraná seed extract (50mg, 50mg and 40mg respectively). The ones that claims “Sleep” contains Griffonia simplicifolia seed (5-HTP: 5-hydroxytryptophan) at 50mg per piece and 1,5 mg of Melatonin. Both versions contain vitamin B6 (pyridoxine HCl) and are sweetened with Sucralose.
The company that produces them is headquartered in California, USA and the product is manufactured in Canada.
You can learn more in a very attractive website: www.chewpod.com and also in www.khloros.ca (where I can see a thrid version of the product, named “Focus” but this does not seem to be in the market yet). You can also check the facebook page @chewpod and the instagram with the same label @chewpod , where this “Focus” version also appears.
The company seems also open to produce for private label.
According to Confectionerynews.com, the company “Project 7” has announced the launching of a new functional gum. This one contains vitamins B6, B12 and guaraná and goes under the brand “Midnight”. The article also discusses about other functional gums and some data from the US chewing gum market. : link here
In the website of the company (www.project7.com) you can see the different flavors, which are very interesting. although I mentioned this company before, I think it is worth to refresh it because of the special focus they give to the business (related to some NGOs) and the special designs of the packages and flavors they use (e.g. birthday cake gum, kettel pop gum, peppermint vanilla gum , etc..)
Today I want to talk about a functional gum. You know I have special interest on all these gums that provide some added benefits, so I am eager to taste and to talk about them.
Vitamingum® , from the USA, comes in two different versions:
– VITAMINGUM Fresh. This product is packed in blisters with 12 coated pillows each. It comes in three flavors (cinnamon, spearmint and peppermint) and contains 12 vitamins (!). They make up to 10% of the Recommended Daily Value (RDV) per serving. The vitamins are A, C, D, E and a range of Bs, plus folic acid and BiotinThe taste has good lasting and the chew is nice.
-VITAMINGUM Sport. This one comes in hollow balls packed in flow pack (each pack contains 4 balls) or in pouches containing 18 balls. There are three different flavors (grape, raspberry and bubble gum). The chew is surprisingly soft for a hollow ball and the cud volume is really big. It contains 25% of the RDV of the same vitamins as Vitamingum, so it is the “stronger version” of the former. In theory, by chewing only 4 of these balls per day, we can get the level of vitamins that is recommended.
Both products use Sucralose and Neotame as sweeteners and, in fact, use the claim of being “Aspartame free”.
It has been in the market for some time already, so it not really a new launching, but it is, anyway, a good example of how to make good functional products.
The product is based on a patent and sold by the company Vitaball, Inc. from Kentucky, and you can learn more in their website: www.chewvitamingum.com
A new energy gum has been launched in UK. It is named “RAW” and marketed by Navson, a mineral water company. They position this gum at lower price (18 pieces for 0,99 Pound; 1,2 Eur; 1,65 US$) than other competitors and do not use caffein (maybe the most obvious ingredient that comes to our mind when considering this product category). “RAW” contains Taurine and Vitamin B.
Other energy gums are mentioned in the article from confectionery news.com (link):
VIBE: 10 pieces per pack. 2 Pounds (=2,42 Eur, 3,32 US$)
L.A. FUEL: 7 gums per pack, 25 mg Taurine per gum, 100 mg caffeine per gum, 3,00 Eur per pack (=2,48 Pounds, 4,11 US$)
And other gums in the market:
DRIVE GUM: 10 gums per pack, 25 mg caffeine per gum, 2,8 Eur per pack (=2,31 Pounds, 3,84 US$)
C2 Energy Gum: 40 gums per pack (plastic bottle), caffeine, taurine and guarana (precise quantities do not appear in their web site). At 8990 chilean pesos (= 11,82 Eur, 9,77 Pounds, 16,19 US$)
Chewing Gum Consultant 