✗ The myth everyone repeats
Kids feared that swallowing chewing gum would cause it to stick in their throat, choking them or requiring medical intervention.
✓ What is actually true
Gum cannot get stuck in your throat. Your esophagus is lined with mucus that prevents adhesion, and swallowed gum is propelled by normal swallowing and peristalsis. It travels into your stomach and continues through your digestive tract unchanged, exiting your body in stool. While large quantities of gum combined with other blockage risks could theoretically cause problems in young children, a single piece is completely safe.
Reception
The receipts 3 sources
- Mayo Clinic: Swallowing Gum SafetyPRIMARY
- Snopes: Gum in ThroatREFERENCE
- Wikipedia: EsophagusREFERENCE