What Happens if You Swallow a Chewing Gum?

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks, Medicine on October 11, 2007 at 3:48 pm


Remember the old myth that swallowing chewing gum will stay in your digestive tracts for seven years? That turned out not to be true, but what actually happens to a swallowed gum, anyhow?

Scientific American has got the answer (including a gruesome but rare case of gum-based gastrointestinal blockage that looks like a prickly porcupine!): Link – Thanks Scott!


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5 comments to "What Happens if You Swallow a Chewing Gum?"

  1. Tim Giachetti
    October 11th, 2007 at 3:50 pm

    I love it! Alex you sick little puppy. heheheheh And here I believed you would fart and float away! :P

  2. Justin
    October 11th, 2007 at 6:45 pm

    Nice. oh btw, the link takes you to page 2 instead of 1.

  3. Alex
    October 11th, 2007 at 7:06 pm

    Oops - thanks Justin. It was pretty lame for SciAm to split it to two short pages just to boost their pageviews. Nevertheless, I've fixed it.

  4. Nathan Miller
    October 12th, 2007 at 2:34 pm

    I've always been under the impression that swallowing gum had no effect whatsoever, so I never had a problem doing so. I now know that there are some dangers... but I doubt that I'll stop.

  5. Kirsty
    July 13th, 2009 at 4:58 am

    I was laughing because my teacher has no toes and I accidently swallowed a peice of gum.
    It's now lodged inthe back of my throat and I'm worried I'll die.
    What will happen?


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