Orbit Gum Review: Maui Melon Mint Orbit Gum

It wasn't that long ago that I first saw a commercial for Orbit gum, well I guess if I really think about it, it was a couple years ago. Despite being a fan of chewing gum up until recently I had never tried any of the companies gum. This was because I was starting to question how good gum was for you and whether or not it was a good idea to regularly chew it. So it wasn't that I was completely against the Orbit gum, just gum in general. Now days I don't regularly chew gum and I hardly ever buy it. Usually if you see me chewing a piece of gum it is because someone offered me some and I indulged myself in a piece. Recently, someone was kind enough to offer me a piece of gum and to my surprise it was some Orbit gum. I didn't see any harm in trying the Orbit gum so I had myself a piece of Maui Melon Mint Orbit Gum.

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this gum but I was trying to keep an open mind. I can't say that I am huge fan of melons but like I said I was trying to keep an open mind when it came to the Maui Melon Mint Orbit Gum. The flavor was strong, but it was also sweet at the same time. I would say that the flavor was a good flavor but it certainly was unique. I was enjoying the taste though and thought that the size of the gum was nice. All too often I find that gum pieces are a little bit on the small size and then I have to chew two pieces at the same time. This results in using the gum I buy myself twice as fast, and I never feel comfortable asking for a second piece when someone offers me some gum. I had to give Orbit credit for the size of their Maui Melon Mint Orbit Gum. I also had to give them credit for living up to their saying, "a good clean feeling no matter what." I truly thought that the gum made me feel as though I could hide any garlic or onions that I had ate with it. Unlike the feeling that you often get with more sugar gums I didn't feel as though I needed to brush my teeth after chewing the piece. The Maui Melon Mint Orbit Gum's flavor lasted for a couple of hours which was also a nice thing about the gum.

With all of these nice things said about the gum I have to admit that there were some things that I was not crazy about. One of the first things that I looked at after chewing this gum was its ingredients. The ingredients in Maui Melon Mint Orbit Gum are sorbitol, gum base, glycerol, maltitol, natural and artificial flavors, less than two percent of xylitol, aspartame, acesulfame K, soy lecithin, sucralose and BHT. The BHT was used as a preservative and is also used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, jet fuels, rubber, petroleum products and embalming fluid. Learning this certainly made me think twice about how much I should try and avoid it in the foods that I eat and the gum that I chew. Underneath the list of ingredients is stated Phenylketonurics: contains phenylalanine, a warning for people who can not have aspartame. I wasn't surprised to learn that the gum contained sorbitol but it was disappointing. Sorbitol, sometimes called glucitol, is a sugar alcohol which unfortunately the human body metabolizes it very slowly. In addition it has been linked to poor weight gain and irritable bowel syndrome in people who were chronic gum chewers. The more I thought about these ingredients the less I wanted to chew Maui Melon Mint Orbit Gum, or any gum, again.

I don't see myself buying the Maui Melon Mint Orbit Gum and I have a feeling that I will decline it in the event that I am offered it again. I would only recommend this gum to someone if they were completely comfortable with the ingredients in the gum. I for one am not too comfortable with the ingredients in this gum, and probably all others, and so I will not be getting it for that reason alone. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I thought that the piece of Maui Melon Mint Orbit Gum that I had tasted good, but I just can't get past the many things that it took to make that piece of gum. Prior to this gum I also recently tried Trident Wild Blueberry Twist Gum and thought that it too had some questionable ingredients that I just wasn't thrilled about.