DID YOU KNOW? VERY INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT CHEWING GUMS

• Today, the average American chews 300 sticks of gum a year.
• Did you know that chewing gum has been around for over 900 years?
• A vast area of farmland is required to raise all the mint plants necessary to meet the Wrigley Company’s annual needs for mint oil. If added together, this farmland would equal 53 square miles, or approximately 30,550 football fields.The leading mint producing states are Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.
• Many doctors, however, said it was unhealthy.  In 1869, one wrote that chewing gum would "exhaust the salivary glands and cause the intestines to stick together." 
• A leading columnist on the subject of etiquette tells a reader asking about chewing gum in public that it is perfectly all right to do so as long as it isn’t done with too much gusto.
• A manufacturer orders his workers to stop chewing on the job—but they go to the National Labor Relations Board and win the right to do so.
• Teachers who used to admonish their students not to chew in class now use gum to reward good work.
• In the United States alone, there are about 20 chewing gum manufacturers, with the Wrigley Company being the largest.
• In the United States, total retail sales of chewing gum (including bubble gum) is over $2.0 billion.
• They can't make chocolate-flavored chewing gum.   Unfortunately,  the cocoa butter in chocolate acts as an emulsifier on chewing gum base, making it extremely soft, negatively affecting the chewing quality of the product.
• To remove chewing gum from hair.Try using peanut butter or vegetable oil to soften the gum. This should make removing it a bit easier.
• Candy consumption:1997 U.S. per capita confectionery consumption increased to a new all-time high of 26.7 pounds per person, a 1.8 percent increase over 1996, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce figures. Americans enjoyed a total of 7.1 billion pounds of sweet treats last year, led by non-chocolate candies, which posted a 2.3 percent gain to 12.3 pounds per person.
• Chocolate consumption was up 1 percent, to 11.7 pounds per person. The remaining 15 pounds consumed includes gum and unspecified candy.
• Candy retail sales in 1997 added up to an estimated $22.7 billion, a $1.3 billion increase over the previous year.
• While Americans enjoy their sweet treats, they are no match for the Danes. In Denmark, per capita confectionery consumption tops an estimated 33 pounds per person, earning them number one position in candy consumption worldwide. Americans, overall, rank eighth. October 15, 1998
• Holiday sales in 1998, in millions of U.S. dollars: Valentine’s Day $1.033; Easter $1.670; Halloween $1.767; and Christmas $1.418.