Student Loan Blog : snacks

A Fix That Doesn’t Stick: British Scientists Invent Non-Stick, Water-Soluble Chewing Gum

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:53:00 GMT

You’re walking along down the street humming a happy tune because you’re having one of those remarkably great days, and then you take the step that stops you dead in your tracks.

We all know the feeling of slowly trying to peel our heel up from a gooey sidewalk. This is the unmistakable experience of stepping in freshly chewed gum.

But those sticky situations and the unsightly stretches of asphalt pocked with blackened gum may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to British scientists at Bristol University who have created the first non-stick gum, reports Fiona MacRae in the Daily Mail (“Scientists Invent the World’s First Non-Stick Chewing Gum That Washes Off Pavements,” Sep. 13, 2007).

The gum, called Revolymer 7, Rev 7 for short, is reportedly still full of taste and has the same chewy consistency, but can be easily peeled off hard surfaces and washed off sidewalks with just water, which could save cities thousands in specialized gum clean-up costs.

Gumming for Change

The United States tops all other nations in gum consumption, with sales reaching around $2 billion a year. All that gum in people’s mouths translates into gobs of discarded gum in movie theaters, on park benches, under tables, and all over pavement and parking lots. Chewing gum doesn’t break down over a period of time, so gum litter accumulates and remains difficult to remove.

According to Daimer Steam Cleaners, gum removal procedures cost U.S. taxpayers $2 to $3 per piece of gum. In Great Britain, writes MacRae, gum clean-up can cost councils £150 million—over $300 million—a year.

It’s this proliferation of carelessly thrown-down gum that provided the impetus for inventor Terence Cosgrove, a physical chemist and professor at Bristol University.

“Chewing gum is a social habit that goes around the world. But unfortunately, a large number of people dispose of their gum inappropriately,” says Cosgrove, quoted in MacRae’s article. “It is unpleasant, could have health issues associated with it, and is unsightly.”

To create the non-stick gum, Cosgrove and his fellow scientists used the basic gum formula of synthetic rubber, chalk, wax, sugar and flavorings, but replaced the gum’s sticky component, an adhesive compound also found in car tires, with a non-stick synthetic substitute.

For all you gum chewers and smackers out there, Cosgrove’s creation could be paradise in a stick. At the 2007 Festival of Science held by the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the Bristol team announced that tests of their product showed the non-stick formula is attracted to water, making it effortless to wash away—just rain will do the trick—and easy to remove from both shoe soles and hair.

Say goodbye to mashing that messy mixture of peanut butter and ice cubes in your hair to detangle the wads of gum you woke up with on your pillow instead of in your mouth.

God Save the Sidewalks

The new gum, which will only be produced in mint and lemon flavors at first, is scheduled for a small-scale release in the U.K. next year if is meets safety regulations. In the meantime, its creators are continuing to seek a major confectioner for wide distribution.

Emma Brennan of the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign expresses optimism about the invention’s potential to make a difference on the walkways of London, where Oxford Street alone, according to MacRae, wears an estimated 300,000 pieces of discarded gum.

“It can cost up to £20,000 to use power-washers or steam cleaners to remove gum from town center,” says Brennan.

But she hopes the removal of the sticky factor in Cosgrove’s gum doesn’t encourage gum lovers to chew and dispose irresponsibly.

Says Brennan, “It is important that people don’t use the invention of non-stick gum to justify dropping it on the pavement rather than putting in the bin.”

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Death by Popcorn

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:43:00 GMT

Microwave popcorn “pushers” grossed well over a billion dollars ($1.33 billion to be exact) in the year 2000.

But this popular, ubiquitous snack food may be adversely affecting your health, making you sick and potentially even leading to death.

We’re totally serious: Your microwave popcorn could be killing you.

Smog, Carbon Monoxide, and Now—the Waft of Bogus Butter

Whether you’re settling in on the couch to take a TiVo break or just looking for an easy snack, microwave popcorn has a tantalizing go-to convenience: five minutes and you’re in hot buttered heaven.

But that rich, savory smell is exactly what got one Colorado man seriously sick. “When he broke open the bags, after the steam came out, he would often inhale the fragrance because he liked it so much,” writes Gardiner Harris in a New York Times article (“Doctor Links a Man’s Illness to a Microwave Popcorn Habit,” Sep. 5, 2007).

That fragrance comes from diacetyl, a chemical added to microwave popcorn to give it its buttery flavor and smell. Although eating foods that contain diacetyl hasn’t previously been found to pose health risks, inhalation of the fumes produced when diacetyl is heated has been linked to “popcorn lung,” a respiratory disease found in workers at food-flavoring factories and popcorn plants.

The Colorado man, Wayne Watson, went to his doctor, plagued by a worsening cough and deteriorating shortness of breath.

A self-confessed “Mr. Popcorn,” Watson told his personal physician, Dr. Cecile Rose, that he had been eating at least two bags of microwave popcorn every day for over 10 years. Rose discovered the popcorn link on a hunch, asking Watson about his popcorn consumption after noticing similarities between Watson’s symptoms and those of popcorn factory workers afflicted with popcorn lung.

Following her theory, Rose measured levels of diacetyl in Watson’s home after he made popcorn and found levels of the chemical were comparable to those in microwave popcorn plants. Naturally, she encouraged Watson to kick his popcorn habit.

Six months later, Watson’s lung condition has improved. But that hasn’t alleviated concerns among the medical community and industry officials: Until Watson, popcorn lung had only been found only in flood-flavoring and popcorn plant workers, not in everyday consumers.

Professional Poppers Plagued by “Popcorn Lung”

Popcorn lung, medically referred to as bronchiolitis obliterans, is the obliteration of tiny airways in the lungs and can be fatal. When the vapors from heated diacetyl are inhaled over a long period of time, Harris explains, “the small airways in the lungs [can] become swollen and scarred. Sufferers can breathe in deeply, but they have difficulty exhaling.”

Flavoring manufacturers have so far paid out over $100 million as a result of lawsuits brought by affected workers, according to ABC News (“Could Microwave Popcorn Be Toxic?,” May 16, 2007).

ABC recounts the case of Jerry Blaylock, a 53-year-old employee for a flavoring company in St. Louis, Mo. After just 10 months at the plant, Blaylock developed the condition and his lungs now only function at 45 percent capacity. Blaylock says he can no longer take his grandchildren to amusement parks or the zoo.

ConAgra Foods, manufacturer of Orville Redenbacher popcorn, has acknowledged a concern for “workplace exposure” to diacetyl, but told ABC News that “everyday use of its popcorn was safe for consumers.”

Despite ConAgra’s and other manufacturers’ assurances that the disease is isolated to plant workers, Watson’s case—which, according to Daniel DeNoon at WebMD, led Rose to fire off a letter on July 18 to the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration—has raised concerns about the risks to consumers (“Microwave Popcorn Linked to Lung Harm,” Sep. 5, 2007).

Stopping the Pop, at Least for Now

So what does this mean for those of us who love our microwave popcorn and refuse to part with it, in spite of all the evidence that those delicious buttery aromas could be harming us?

You could continue eating it, but with some precautions. Here are some suggestions for dealing with the deadly fumes when your bag is fresh from the microwave:

§ Open it underneath your stove’s fan in the kitchen while holding your breath.

§ Have your least favorite roommate open it for you, then pretend you never read this article.

§ Open the bag and eat as much as you can as quickly as possible without breathing. Hope you don’t burn yourself.

For those of you who have the willpower to stay away from your five-minute snack that’s loaded with deadly diacetyl, you won’t have to deny yourselves forever.

Pop Weaver has already eliminated diacetyl from its products. And makers of major-league brands Orville Redenbacher, Act II, Pop Secret and Jolly Time have announced they’ll also be releasing diacetyl-free versions of their microwave popcorn.

Waiting until then to indulge your craving for a whiff of bagged imitation butter may be the wisest and healthiest move you can make.

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