> >Is chewing gum "food"?
>
> A question for the ages, I'm sure.
>
> >I'm not sure why it isn't candy, but he says it isn't.
>
> Because gums were originally used in their unsweetened form to clean teeth and improve breath, apparently. Not only that, they are chewed not for the nutritional value, but simply for the pleasure of mastication.

Isn't that a good definition of candy, though?

Nutrition doesn't come into it. A Big Mac is food. Ice cream is food. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Breakfast Cereal is food. I mean, take something which *does* clearly have some nutritional value, such as a big plate of nicely grilled lean steak with baked potato, a green salad, and a juicy red apple for dessert. If you like all this stuff and eat it for pleasure, does it count less as food than if you hated it but choked it down anyway on account of its nutritional value?