I am an avid gum chewer. On a typical day, I will go through around twenty to thirty pieces of gum depending on how long the flavor and elasticity of the gum lasts. Like a smoker’s work space might be littered with empty cigarette cartons, mine is strewn with empty gum packets. I tend to prefer the mint varieties of gum, as they are good for eating no matter the occasion and leave your mouth feeling fresh, light and kissable. Since its arrival several years ago the Stride brand has been my preferred brand of choice. I will sometimes stray to others and am on the lookout for the novel gum that might prove to be a new favorite.
While shopping at Costco last week, gum was on my shopping list. I could have opted for my mutli-pack of Stride, but there was a new gum choice from Dentyne that caught my eye – Dentyne Pure. The packaging boldly claims that it “purifies your breath”. The first package I picked up was a bold mix of light and darker greens. I must confess that finding the actual flavor is rather difficult on the packages and might lead to a mistaken purchase. Green typically signifies spearmint in gum packaging. At the bottom of the package; however, it proclaimed Mint Melon. Personally, I am not a fan of the mint mixed with fruit flavors that seem to be the current trend, so I passed on purchasing the Mint Melon variety. Next to the green box was an equally attractive box mixing blues and purples together. Now that I knew where to look for my flavor and not to assume color had anything to do with it, I found that the blue packaged gum was indeed simply Mint with Herbal Accents. Both gum varieties proclaim that they are with Herbal Accents. Satisfied, I made my purchase and set out to test this new hybrid of gum and breath mint.
Flavor:
The flavor of the Dentyne Pure Mint is just as you would expect. You get an instant cool and liquid burst of mint. The gum is the hard-shelled variety and the liquid burst is the breath freshener that the gum contains. The mint was pleasant and not too over-bearing. While you know you are chewing mint gum, it is not so powerful that it chills your mouth and overpowers everything else.
Elasticity:
Initial elasticity was in the perfect range of not being too hard to mash into a chewable wad but not so soft that it left me wondering if I was chewing anything at all.
Performance:
I judge a gum’s performance based on: flavor and elasticity and how long they hold up and how well the product’s claims are met. The flavor has about an average lasting quality. Near the hour mark of chewing only a faint bit of flavor is left, and I had to add another piece to keep the mint flavor intact.
The elasticity was long lasting. I never felt the need to change the gum I had because the gum had deteriorated to a non-chewable mess (I chewed for about 3 hours before it was lunchtime and started a new piece following lunch).
The only real claim that Cadbury Adams makes about the gum is the “purifies your breath” bit. On the front it states that it has NeutraFRESH. The back of the packages states that NeutraFRESH “neutralizes bad breath odors caused by bacteria and food”. The gum certainly does that very well. The effects only last about half the time of the flavor, so about 30 minutes, but for those 30 minutes, your breath will certainly smell and fell fresh and kissable.
Value:
A package of gum holds nine pieces. The box I purchased at Costco ran around $10.00 and contained ten packages (90 pieces total), which seems to be about the going rate you can find the product for online and at other retailers. Single packages at the grocery or convenience store are in the $2.00 range. I can’t say that an individual package would be much of a bargain, but is in line with other similar gum products. The bulk purchase makes more sense, especially if you chew gum on a regular basis.
Overall Dentyne Pure – Mint lives up to all its claims and is a good gum option. It does not meet the high standards of stride with respect to flavor and elasticity performance, but the added burst of mouth freshener is an excellent feature. I would recommend this gum for those moments when you don’t have access to toothpaste or a mouthwash and need to have your breath smelling its best. Dieters, of course, will also be interested in it as an option for helping to lose weight. The gum has less than five calories per piece, and given the calorie-burning effects of gum, you’ll likely burn those off and more by chewing it.
