Friday, October 5, 2012
Glee Sugar Free GumAs I mentioned in some recent reviews, I’ve been chewing more gum lately. It’s hard to find gum that’s doesn’t use artificial sweeteners, but the market has expanded in the past few years as consumers have searched for alternatives to aspartame. I picked up this package of Glee Gum Sugar Free Peppermint before a recent plane trip but then forgot to take it with me. So I’ve been munching on it at the office. Unlike sugared gums and other sugar free gums, chewing gum made with xylitol has an amazing cool feeling on the tongue. The candy coating on the Glee chiclets only enhances that.Glee is also made with all non genetically modified ingredients (including sunflower lecithin) and a natural gum base made from real chicle. The flavor is a mild peppermint, it’s clean and not too overpowering but also lasts quite a long time. The chew is smooth, and while I’ve had problems with the chicle sticking to my teeth before, I don’t have that issue with the sugarless version (it could also be that I’ve had some of my fillings replaced since I started Candy Blog). Sometimes I find sugar free gums have a strange, metallic flavor, but in this case I got no strange notes. It was refreshing and simple. Xylitol is not a no-calorie sweetener, it’s a sugar alcohol that has a fraction of the calories of sugar. But mostly it has either no effect on the bacteria that cause cavities or, in some studies, can effectively combat it (but it takes more than just a couple of pieces of gum a few times a month). Xylitol, like most sugar alcohols, can cause stomach distress when consumed in large quantities by some people. Gum is usually not an issue, unless you’re chewing more than one package a day if you happen to be one of those sensitive people. This is pretty much my go-to gum now. I still prefer real Chiclets because of the satisfaction of chewing the sugar out and then going for three more pieces. But this is probably better for my oral health, the flavor lasts longer and is made with all natural ingredients. Now I’m hoping they’ll come out with more flavors, like cinnamon. Glee Gum does come in little single-serving boxes for Halloween treating, however, the sugar free varieties are not available yet. As far as I can tell, this would be the perfect item for folks who are nut-free, gluten-free and sugar-free to give out without seeming like stick-in-the-muds. (But it would help if it also came in the bubble gum flavor, too.) Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:39 pm All Natural • Candy • Review • Verve Inc • Ethically Sourced • Gum • Mints • 8-Tasty • United States • |
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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I’m pretty sure Glee does make cinnamon flavor! I’ve seen several different flavors (mint, berry, citrus and cinnamon if I recall correctly) at my local organic grocery store.
Glee does make a cinnamon gum (as well as peppermint, tangerine, spearmint, triple berry, and bubblegum flavored—can’t blow bubbles!) but only in the “sugar” versions. So far, the only sugar-free ones they’re making are peppermint and lemon-lime.
They do offer several kinds of “make your own” activity kits, including one for gum—it includes flavors for cinnamon and cherry. It sounds like it’s a “sugar” variety, though.
http://www.gleegum.com
Finally bought a pack of the spearmint flavor last week. Horrible, just horrible. It tasted like the cardboard box it came in. On second thought, I would have been better off chewing the box itself. The flavor, what little there was, lasted about 10 minutes. I was chewing 2 pieces, the recommended amount. Very disappointed, will go back to my go-to Extra spearmint or Mentos sf spearmint.
I’ve got to agree with Patrick—I was really disappointed by Glee’s taste, not to mention how quickly it lost its flavor. I spit it out after maybe five minutes, and I never do that with gum, because I’m such a frugal type. I can’t remember which flavor I had, though. Also, the Glee definitely stuck to my teeth; not appreciated.
Incidentally, for anyone who does want to try this, Whole Foods seems to be stocking it now. I found it in their regular candy aisle at the Whole Foods in the Art Museum/Fairmount area of Philadelphia. I want to say they had maybe two or three different flavors available.
One more thing about Glee Gum, just to be fair to anyone affiliated with Glee who may end up reading these comments: The design on the package—and for that matter, the actual design of the little box itself—is fantastic. In fact, that’s probably what sold me on it in the first place; I sometimes have a hard time resisting products that are incredibly well-designed.
What’s even more impressive is the fact that the design seems to have done entirely with clip-art, and believe me, it takes a very skilled designer to make something beautiful out of free, throw-away images that we’ve been seeing all our lives.
The “GLEE” logo and the font used for it are also just perfect, I’d say. Whoever did this one for you, Glee, I hope you hang on to ‘em.
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