Time was when foods containing diet sweeteners were clearly marked as such. After all, why would any consumer want to ingest a diet substitute if they weren't dieting? More so when you consider the health risks associated with these diet substitutes.

In the past, products which used these sort of sweeteners were clearly labeled as such with warnings. Not so any more. If you don't read the actual ingredients, you'll never know what's in there.

Bubblicious Receives a Best Rating
Bubblicious Bubble Gum flavor chewing gum is one of the only gums on the market that still uses good old fashioned sugar as its main ingredient and sweetener.

Why is this such a big deal? Because nearly all other gum manufacturers now use questionable diet sweeteners as the main ingredient -- this includes diet AND regular brands.

Bubbliclious is one of the very few safe brands currently available.

And don't be fooled by thinking these sugar substitutes are only being used in diet gums. Sorbitol and Sucrose are the primary sweeteners in almost all other gums on the market -- diet or regular.

Why use it in non-diet products? Because Sorbitol allows the flavor to last for an unnaturally long time. Unwitting consumers are easily taken in by this feature.

Like bakery products which don't have a long shelf life, big business has found a way to unnaturally improve the features of bubble gum. In this case, making the gum flavor last longer which makes their customers think they're getting a better value. But at what cost?

Search the internet and you'll quickly find many articles discussing the laxative effects Sorbitol can produce including abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating, and gas. Plus, Sorbitol is not recommended for those with sensitive stomachs or children. Wait -- aren't children the primary target market for the bubble gum industry?!

You'll also find a slew of PR articles on the web that try to discredit these findings by stating that Sorbitol is safe in "small quantities". The problem is, they don't define what "small quantities" are. Plus, the manufacturers are not making it clear to us that we're ingesting something that is potentially dangerous.

With "small quantities" not being clearly defined and packaging not clearly labeld, it's impossible to safely monitor Sorbitol consumption. Sorbitol and other diet sweeteners are being used in a variety of products besides gum that many consumers ingest everyday without even knowing it. As a result, we're getting a little bit here and a little there and it all adds up.

Bubblicious Bubble Gum flavor is a little harder to find than other brands. Clearly the distributors of Wrigley's, Trident, and others are doing a better job of getting their products onto store shelves. That's why it's a good idea to stock up on Bubblicious when you find it.

I would much rather see my kids ingesting natural sugar over questionable sweeteners that serve only to create bigger profits for corporate America.

Kudos to Bubblicious for "sticking to their gums" by using natural sugar instead of dangerous artificial sweeteners like their competitors.