Most popular gums that you find in grocery stores contain ingredients that you can’t tell for sure from the label if they are vegan-friendly or not.
Personally, I prefer to buy gum that I’m positive is vegan.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time testing out different vegan gums, and while some of them are expensive and don’t last long, there are some good vegan gums. I’ll share my experiences with you here.
Table of Contents
Is Gum Vegan?
There’s a handful of common ingredients in the gum you usually buy that may or may not be vegan.
- Glycerin
- Gum base
- Natural flavors
- Sugar (not always vegan friendly)
For most popular brands, there are a few accidentally vegan flavors, but you need to be careful, because most aren’t. In most cases, there’s a chance that a flavor is vegan, but it’s hard to be 100% sure.
Are Any Gum Brands “Accidentally” Vegan?
If you’d rather stick with a popular brand, here’s a brief summary of if they might be vegan friendly or not.
| Brand | Summary |
|---|---|
| Dentyne | All flavors contain glycerin, and when I contacted them, they could not confirm if they were plant based.
“Unfortunately, this ingredient information is not currently available. As you can imagine our products change frequently and maintaining a list of products that contain enzymes would be virtually impossible.” |
| Orbit | All flavors contain glycerin, and when I contacted them, they could not confirm if they were plant based. |
| Trident | Some types like Trident Splash or Layers have gelatin and aren’t vegan.
Trident White or Original might be vegan, but contain both glycerin, natural flavors, and artificial colors, which I could not confirm if they were plant-based. |
| Wrigley’s 5 gum | I contacted the manufacturer and their glycerol is vegan.
If you consider artificial colors vegan, then all flavors of 5Gum would be considered vegan-friendly. |
The 4 Best Vegan Gum Brands
I’ve ordered several vegan gums over the past few months, and there are a few things you need to know going into this.
First, they won’t be as good as Trident, or Dentyne, or other popular gums. The texture won’t be quite as good, and the flavor usually doesn’t last as long.
They’re also usually a bit more expensive.
So measure your expectations to avoid being disappointed.
These 4 are the best gums (that all clearly state they are vegan on the package) that I’ve tried. They’re all pretty good, but I’ve listed them in order of my personal preference.
Simply Gum: Chewy Gum With a Chicle Base (Biodegradable)
Simply Gum is my personal favorite, and the one that I’ll be ordering from now on. I haven’t found it in any local stores, but you can buy it in bulk on Amazon.
It’s the most expensive option here by a little bit (but they’re all in the same ballpark), it works out to about $0.16 per piece. I typically chew 2 at a time.
There are a few things that stand out about Simply Gum:
- Biodegradable – Most other gum bases are made with petroleum (plastic) byproducts, and aren’t biodegradable. Simply gum uses chicle (from tree sap) as a gum base, which will break down no problem.
- No Xylitol (or aspartame) – Xylitol can be a great sweetener for gum, but many people have sensitivities to it. Simply gum only uses natural sweeteners.
- On the chewy side – Most vegan gums that I’ve tried are tough to chew. Simply Gum is on the soft side, and I find it more enjoyable to chew for an extended period of time than others.
- Several flavors – I wasn’t a fan of the ginger or fennel flavors, but the maple, cinnamon, coffee, and mint varieties were all great.
Xylichew: Long-Lasting Flavor With Xylitol
If you don’t have any issues with xylitol, Xylichew is the best vegan gum that’s flavored with it.
As studies have shown, xylitol has a beneficial effect on preventing cavities and improving oral flora. Ideally, it should be consumed on a regular basis, making gum a good vehicle for it.
It’s a similar price to Simply Gum, maybe a bit cheaper.
The texture and flavorare relatively long-lasting. I enjoyed it for easily 20 minutes. Again, it’s still not going to be quite as good as something like Dentyne, but it’s not too far off.
Tree Hugger Gum: Vegan Gumballs Sweetened With Sugar
Miss gumballs? Then this is the gum for you.
Tree Hugger Gum comes as tiny gumballs and each piece is cheaper than the other 2 vegan gum brands we looked at above.
There’s no xylitol, as the gum is sweetened with a variety of sugars instead. Here are the sweetener ingredients from the package:
Cane sugar, glucose, brown rice syrup
The gum base contains natural chicle, but that suggests to me that it’s still at least partly petroleum based. I couldn’t find a definitive answer on that.
As far as the flavor goes, it’s decent (how could it not be with sugar?). I’m not a huge fan of the texture, it was on the tough side and hard to chew after a bit.
PUR Gum: Easiest to Find, But Flavor Dies Fast
You can find PUR gum at Whole Foods and quite a few other grocery stores.
If I had no other options, it’s okay, but I’m not the biggest fan of it. The flavor seems to die out really fast (particularly the fruit flavors), I’d recommend trying the mint or cinnamon if you do end up going with PUR.
What’s good about it?
- Relatively cheap compared to other vegan gums
- Has xylitol, which is good for your teeth
- Flavor is good (just runs out fast)
Which Vegan Gum is Best For You?
I hope vegan gum companies keep improving and closing the gap between mainstream gums.
But for now, these 4 options are pretty good.
If flavor is most important to you, go with Simply Gum or Xylichew.
If you prefer gum balls, go with Tree Hugger Gum.
And if you just need some gum in a pinch while out shopping, PUR gum is a decent option.
Here’s a final summary table that may help you with your decision:
| Gum | Base type | Sweetener |
| Simply Gum | Chicle | Organic cane sugar |
| Xylichew | Standard gum base | Xylitol |
| Tree Hugger Gum | Standard gum base (with chicle) | Sugars (multiple) |
| PUR Gum | Standard gum base | Xylitol |
Happy chewing!
