Product Review: Extra’s New! Dessert Delights Mint Chocolate Chip Gum
Good sweet Mike! What took them so long?
Not only does Extra’s new gum taste EXACTLY like the classic flavor of mint and semisweet chocolate which have made mint chocolate chip ice cream so enduring on the flavor meter, but at only five calories per stick, you can have up to thirty pieces of this gum to equal the same calorie total of a moderate scoop of your favorite full-fat mint chocolate chip ice cream.
I should know, because I’ve tried. And I have suffered the consequences. Notice how I began this review with might, because there is a big difference between might and is.
The problem, pray-tell? 5, it turn out, isn’t the important number here. 2 is. 2 grams of sugar alcohol per serving, to be precise. And, despite my horrible math skillz, I’m smart enough to know that 2 times 30 is 60. And when you’re dealing with a product with the first ingredient of sorbitol, “60″ is not a happy number. Are you catching my, ahem, drift? Let’s consult Wikipedia for a moment…
Ingesting large amounts of sorbitol can lead to abdominal pain, gas, and mild to severe diarrhea. Sorbitol ingestion of 20 grams (0.7 oz) per day as sugar-free gum has led to severe diarrhea leading to unintended weight loss of 11 kilograms (24 lb) in a woman originally weighing 52 kilograms (110 lb); another patient required hospitalization after habitually consuming 30 grams (1 oz) per day
OK, and that’s enough of that.
This was not smart...
Let’s just say that those health folks ain’t lying when then say “everything” in moderation. That being said, enjoyed in moderation, this gum is freaking amazing.It’s flavor is amazingly rich (can a gum flavor be rich?) and doesn’t strike you as a “classic” mint gum like spearmint, while it gets the most out of chew time by not losing its flavor too quickly. The chocolate notes aren’t overpowering but they do come through, and lend a complexity of sweetness that makes this more than just a “Breathmint” gum. Just make sure you go easy on it – I’ve had to put myself on a “diet” of just two sticks per day to avoid, shall we say, any unpleasant side effects.
- Pros: Manages to convey “richness” of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream in a stick of gum. Good flavor lasting potential. Sugar-free, so I don’t have to pay the dentist to clean out the massive amount of cavities I’d develop if I was actually eating 15 bowls of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream a day. Also saves me from a future emergency angioplasty.
- Cons: The Wikipedia says it all. Like Violet Beauregarde, I have learned the hard way that the perfect gum still eludes modern science.
GrubGrade: 7.75/10 (Good)
Price: $2.39 per 3, 15-pack set (at Smith’s Grocery)
Nutrition:Extra Dessert Delights Mint Chocolate Chip Gum
Serving Size: 1 stick
Calories: 5
Total Fat: 0 g
Sat Fat: 0 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Total Carbohydrates: 2 g
Sugars 0 g
Sugar Alcohol: 2 g
Interesting. I grabbed a pack of the strawberry shortcake flavor, and the cashier told me they were buy one get one free, so I grabbed the key lime pie. I’m just a little weirded out by anything that combines gum and chocolate, but I may give it a try based on this review.
The strawberry shortcake one was a disappointment, it had a strangely dusty taste first thing, which went away (but then so did the flavor, which just tasted like strawberry). I haven’t tried another piece of it after the initial one, and it kind of put me off the key lime one, too, so I haven’t even opened it.
1I tried the Stawberry Shortcake variety as well and was also disappointed.
I didn’t have high hopes tbh, but to me it had the usual fake strawberry taste, but also a weird chemical taste came through that overpowered everything.
Less than a minute later all the flavor, chemical and otherwise was completely gone.
2No offense but this makes me queasy just thinking about it. Chocolate in gum? Um,no thank you.
3It’s actually very good. I bought all three and do like to have one after dinner. Kinda odd but the chocolate does take care of an after dinner chocolate craving.
4Gum that gives you explosive diarrhea? Count me in, I love a challenge!
5Does all sugar-free gum have that ingredient! Oh no!
6Yea. That and malitol, another SA. A few years ago there was a flight attendent who brought a lawsuit against a company because she claimed it made her fart a lot haha
7The mint chocolate gum is awesome. There is no doubt about it. The strawberry shortcake is okay, but definitely lacks the “wow” factor of the mint chocolate chip. I’m not even a big gum chewer, but I usually have a pack of these in my purse.
8I am hooked on this gum! I love choc chip mint ice cream and this comes very close. I can actually enjoy it in a stick of gum. My problem though is that I chew one pack/15 sticks every day! I do suffer the consequences although the loss of weight part hasn’t happened.
I do have a problem in obtaining this flavor. In Walmart, they are always out as well as Kroger so I have to buy it at the register, which is more money because of the smaller packs.
Best and longest lasting gum flavor yet!!!
9i bought a 3 pack of these at market basket for $1.99
10These are currently on sale for about $1.79 at Target, for the 3-pack. I know the thought of mint chip gum sounds disgusting, but it is soooo good! Stock up now at a great price!!
11WOW! The Mint Chocolate Chips is awesome gum~ I always have some in my car and backpack, I love it and my two Grandson’s now love it, it our favorite.
Penny
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