Swallowing gum: Is it harmful?

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  • With Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist

    Michael Picco, M.D.

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Question

Swallowing gum: Is it harmful?

My 6-year-old daughter accidentally swallowed a wad of chewing gum. Should I be concerned?

Answer

from Michael Picco, M.D.

Although chewing gum is designed to be chewed and not swallowed, it isn't harmful if swallowed. Folklore suggests that swallowed gum sits in your stomach for seven years before it can be digested. But this isn't true. If you swallow gum, it's true that your body can't digest it. But the gum doesn't sit in your stomach. It progresses relatively intact through your digestive system and is excreted in your stool.

On rare occasions, large amounts of swallowed gum combined with constipation have caused intestinal blockage in children.

References
  1. Picco MF (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. Jan. 13, 2009.
  2. Milov DE, et al. Chewing gum bezoars of the gastrointestinal tract. Pediatrics. 1998;102:e22. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/102/2/e22. Accessed Jan. 12, 2009.

AN01006

Feb. 20, 2009

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