Chicle
Chicle (
The tapping of the gum is similar to the tapping of
Etymology
The word chicle comes from the Nahuatl word for the gum, tzictli [ˈt͡sikt͡ɬi], which can be translated as "sticky stuff". Alternatively, it may have come from the Mayan word tsicte.[4] Chicle was well known to the Aztecs and to the Maya, and early European settlers prized it for its subtle flavor and high sugar content. The word is used in the Americas and Spain to refer to chewing gum, chicle being a common term for it in Spanish and chiclete being the Portuguese term (both in Brazil and in parts of Portugal; other areas also use the term chicla). The word has also been exported to other languages such as Greek, which refers to chewing gum as τσίχλα (tsichla).
History
Both the
The American company American Chicle Company, incorporated in June 1899, was the first prominent commercial user of this ingredient in the production of chewing gum. Its brand name, Chiclets, is derived from the word chicle.
In response to a land reform law passed in Guatemala in 1952 which ended feudal work relations and expropriated unused lands and sold them to the indigenous and peasants, the
By the 1960s, most chewing gum companies had switched from using chicle to butadiene-based synthetic rubber, which was cheaper to manufacture. Only a handful of small gum companies still use chicle, including Gud Gum, Glee Gum, Simply Gum, and Tree Hugger Gum.[8]
References
- ISBN 9780809400638.
- ISBN 978-0-8165-2821-9.
- ^ Chicle, Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
- ^ Mexicolore article on chicle
- ISBN 978-0-8165-2821-9.
- ISBN 978-0-9927582-0-2.
- ISBN 0-393-30964-9.
- .