> I was with you on this one, Dave, until I read
>your own defense. We agree that the gooey part
>of gum, which is non-digestable and not intended
>to be eaten, is not food. However, those juices
>that are secreted* when chewing gum, consisting
>of sugar and some flavoring, ARE food.

Those "juices" are nothing more than your own saliva. Your saliva tries to break down the gum, like it would anything else you happened to put in your mouth, and it fails, because GUM IS NOT FOOD. However, the gum is impregnated with stuff, sometimes sugar (although I always chew sugar free gum) and "flavor" (whatever the heck *that* is) that somehow leaks out and mixes with your saliva. With the possible exception of those gums that actually have liquid centers, the only thing you are swallowing is flavored spit, and maybe some sugar. Is that food? Sugar might be considered food. But flavored spit?

-- Dave