June 1, lSt21 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



635 



The Manufacture of Chewino: Gum 



Processes and Machinery 



1M a preceding article' the origin and extent of the American 

 chewing gum industry was given, together with a brief descrip- 

 tion of chicle, chicle substitutes, other chewing gum ingredients, 

 formulas, and a typical factory plan. 

 The machinery equipment of a modern chewing gum factory in- 



Amcrican Chicle Co. 



Fig. 1. 



Crude Chicle in Warehouse 



eludes such rubber working machinery as washers, mixers and 

 kneaders and some machines utilized in candy making, but most 

 of the mechanical equipment is specially designed for making 

 chewing gum. 



The successive steps in the manufacture of chewing gum are 

 essentially the following: 



The blocks of crude chicle are roughly broken into lumps by 

 any convenient means and thrown into bins for storage and drying 



preliminary to reduction to a fine 

 state of division either in a chicle 

 chopper or a special grinder. The 

 chopper reduces the gum to about 

 the size of beans, and the grinder 

 to that of rice. The chicle is next 

 spread upon a sorting table where 

 bark, chips, etc., are removed by 

 hand. 



From the sorting table the mate- 

 rial is taken in trays to a mechani- 

 cally ventilated drying room where 

 it is dried at a temperature not 

 exceeding 90 degrees F. for a few 

 days or until needed for use. 



In the larger plants the ground 

 chicle is dried in rooms supplied 

 with "conditioned" air at 72 de; 

 grees F. and 55 per cent relative 

 humidity. These atmospheric con- 

 ditions are also maintained in the cooling and packaging rooms. 



GUM CLEANING PROCESSES 



One of the most important features in chewing gum manu- 

 facture is making the crude chicle gum and substitutes clean and 

 sanitan.' by removing the bits of bark, sand, clay, fiber from bags, 

 dirt, fdth and other foreign matter which are always present. 



The sticky nature of chicle causes it to gather many impurities 

 during its collection by the natives. Foremost are the bark and 

 dirt from the gum trees themselves, which gets into the latex 



Clough & Witt. 



Fig. 2. Chicle Chopper 



as it is being collected. As the Indians pack the gum great 

 distances through the jungles, an ever increasing amount of dirt 

 adheres to it. When linally it is piled on the shore awaiting ship- 

 ment overseas, it collects more wind-blown sand and clay. Every 

 stage of its handling is in fact part of a continuous process ot 

 gathering dirt. 



Hand and other methods commonly employed to remove this- 

 dirt are unsatisfactory and costly. Hand picking at best removes 

 only the largest particles of impurities to which considerable gum 

 adheres. Not only is the ad- 

 hering gum lost, but often 

 what appears to be only bark, 

 when split open shows gum de- 

 posited between 

 the bark layers. 

 As a rule, over 

 half the weight 

 of the pickings 

 consists of good 

 chicle gum 

 which is wast- 

 ed, representing 

 a great annual 

 loss of money. 

 While larger 

 impurities are 

 removable by 

 hand picking or 



silting, it is entirely impossible to remove the smaller specks of 

 bark, sand, clay, grit, bat lint and other dirt. These remain 

 and contaminate the finished chewing gum. The presence 

 of these impurities spoils the smoothness .of the gum and has 

 a direct effect on the sale of the finished product. Nothing de- 

 preciates the chewing quality of a gum more than the presence 

 of grit. Many gum chewers insist on buying only those brands 

 which are free from such contamination. In fact, the production 

 and sale of dirty chewing gum is a menace to public health and 

 in direct violation of the Federal Food and Drugs .\qX. 

 FILTERING CHICLE 



The remarkable machine pictured below is standard gum 

 cleaning equipment in the plants of the largest chewing gum 



Fig. 3. .Meade Mill 



John Johnson Co. 



Fig. 4. Chicle Filter 



'The India Rubber World. May 1, 1921, pages 558-560. 



manufacturers for blending, sterilizing and filtering free from all 

 impurities the chicle and substitute gums employed. It is esti- 

 mated that over half the world's production of chicle is now 

 filtered through these cleaning machines. 



