Japan is a country full of thin people. You wouldn't think they'd have all sorts of diet foods or appetite suppressants, but they do. The reason this gum is "smart" is that that you're supposed to be savvy enough to chew it instead of eating when you are hungry. While it does not claim to specifically inhibit hunger, the claim is that the fruit and citrus flavors will satisfy your taste buds and you'll forget about the need to consume actual food. The gum has a berry-flavored liquid in the center which is supposed to spread sweetness in your mouth and satisfy your need to eat.
It smells like citrus when you open the box. The gum is sugar-free and has a crisp candy shell. Each piece has 3 calories and is chock full of chemicals including Maltitol. This is a sweetener which, if consumed in too great a quantity, can result in multiple trips to the bathroom so you have to consume it conservatively.
When you bite into it, the liquid center does release onto your tongue and you get a strong dose of a medicinal berry taste. It is a bit like a good cough syrup flavor at first. It doesn't take long for that flavor to dissipate and you're left with the citrus flavor only. That being said, the citrus flavor lasts quite awhile and is pretty good, though non-descript.
This is not bad gum, but it in no way helps you conquer a rumbling stomach. I ate a piece around 5 hours after lunch when I'm dying for a snack and it only distracted my mouth. If you think you're hungry, but you are actually just looking for some sort of oral gratification, this would probably work fairly well, though not necessarily any better than other gum which you enjoy.
I will note that the gum comes wrapped in a Cadbury wrapper with its distinctive logo and being hungry and seeing the logo of one of the best confectioners in the world doesn't exactly help you distract yourself from eating. I guess that the Japanese aren't likely to make the connection between Cadbury's logo and a nice bar of Dairy Milk chocolate, but most foreign folks sure will. I'm off to find some chocolate.
Ahh why do they have a cadbury logo? Cadbury actually make this brand of gum? Strange.
ReplyDeleteI actually don't like gum with liquid in the middle, not sure why. The gum on the picture to me, looks like white chocolate with strawberry cream. More of a treat than a gum. That being said i hate medicinal flavours, yuck.
My guess is that Cadbury is the parent company for Adams which makes Recaldent brand gum.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a great fan of gum with liquid in the middle either, and there seem to be a fair number of them on the market these days.
The illustration of the gum is pretty misleading, and I'm guessing that's intentional!
Thanks for reading and for your comment!
It will sell really well though. If you slap "diet" on things the Japanese, women in particular, will go crazy for it. Sorry to be a bit snide, but their obsession with their weight (or lack thereof IMO) and diet stuff drives me crazy.
ReplyDeleteI think the success of "Calorie Mate" (which I've never tried) speaks to how right you are about jumping on diet fads. Also, the fact that there was a banana shortage after an actress announced that she lost weight eating bananas is also evidence of how crazy women can go when there is a hint of "diet" involved. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment!
I thought that "Smart Time" would probably refer to the katakana use of "smart" as being thin.
ReplyDeleteI've seen it in the stores but thanks to your review, I didn't pick it up!