I grew up in a strict no-sugar household. We ate brown rice, used whole wheat flour, had molasses or honey as a sweetener, and couldn’t eat any cereals that had sugar as one of the first three ingredients. We were the first—and only—house on the block to have a dehydrator for making all-natural banana, apple, and pineapple chips. And we were more than likely the only family in Ohio to eat tofu on a regular basis. Today, I’m thankful for the healthy eating habits that my Mom instilled in me, but at the time, it was pretty awful…and turned me into a wee bit of a sugar junkie. In fact, I missed my 1st grade Valentine’s Day party (passing out and receiving valentines) because I was too busy eating all of the cookies and candy in the back of the room. My struggle was real, folks.
My childhood best friend, Julie, had a completely different upbringing, filled with sugar cereals, soda pop, goodies from Hostess, and every other sweet, processed food imaginable. One day, we begged Julie’s older sister to drive us to the store for cake mix so that we could make cupcakes. Oh, we made the cake batter alright, but then we ate it right from the bowl; there was no baking involved. You better believe that the stomach ache was real.
So it’s no surprise that I was a little leery when I saw the new Project 7 Birthday Cake Gourmet Gum whilst shopping at Target, but I had to give it a try. The packaging says that this sugarless gum is “Great tasting and world changing!” so who am I to judge? (Well, I’m the Chief Gum Officer of The Gum Blog for starters…) The concept of this gum is very cool: creator Project 7 of San Clemente, Calif., gives daily to seven areas of need, including feeding the hungry, healing the sick, supporting those who hope for peace, housing the homeless, quenching those who thirst, teaching them well, and saving the earth.
Now that I’ve seen Project 7’s website, I’m incredibly disappointed that Target carried only the one flavor, because I’m dying to try the other eight flavors, namely Grapefruit Melon and Front Porch Lemonade. And the mint flavors sound amazing as well—Peppermint Vanilla and Chocolate Cinnamon? Hello! Unfortunately, the site only sells the gum in case packs of 12 for $16.75 apiece. I guess I won’t be able to have my Birthday Cake and eat it too.
The Mastication Evaluation
- Flavor: 5/5 — it’s sweet and tastes just like a perfect pink cupcake
- Scent: 5/5 — I’m suddenly back at Julie’s house, and we’re using the electric hand mixer on that cake batter, and it is amazing
- Texture: 3/5 — on the harder side, creating a workout for my jaw; also, the pieces feel small, like I need to chew two pieces at the same time
- Taste Time: 2/5 — the flavor starting becoming sickeningly sweet and less cupcake-y at about 6 minutes
- Long-Term Usage: 1/5 — it was hard to begin with, and after about 5 minutes, it was worse
- Overall: 3.2/5 — Unique flavor and totally awesome concept, but not long-lasting
In testing this gum, I found that two pieces at a time is much for fulfilling than just the one. But with the flavor lasting only about 6 minutes, I’ll go through this pouch of gum in less than an hour. That ain’t fresh!
