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New Improved Flavor! Companies everywhere seem to think that changing their products will increase sales. From the “new” Coke to putting purple horseshoes in Lucky Charms, big businesses love to change. And doesn’t it seem that the best tasting treats get changed the fastest?

In the late spring of 2008, the 117 year old Wrigley company – best known for its gum – was purchased for $23 billion by Mars, Incorporated. Mars is well known for making candy (such as M&Ms, Snickers, and Starburst) but also markets rice, coffee, and pet food.

Since acquiring Wrigley, Mars has made quite a few changes. Doing away with the traditional five-sticks-per-pack narrow rectangular package, they now offer Wrigley’s gum in a Slim Pack™ – a larger rectangle that now contains 15 sticks. Anyone could live with the new package, but the new “improved” flavor? Well, let’s just say I wish I’d stocked up on gum prior to the Mars acquisition.

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I’ve been chewing Wrigley’s Spearmint gum forever, and Wrigley’s has been making spearmint-flavored gum forever - at least since 1893 anyway. When I picked up a pack a couple weeks ago and saw “NEW Improved Flavor!” emblazoned across the top, I was scarcely worried at all. After all, Wrigley’s wouldn’t dare change the sweet spearmint flavor that has brought them success for over 100 years. Maybe they’ve made it longer-lasting, I reasoned.

When I unwrapped my happy little stick of gum, I felt a shocking jolt – my delicious off-white gum had morphed into lime green! What? White was good enough for my great-great grandmother, why not for me? Fearless, I began to chew and at first things seemed the same as always. A sweet juice filled my mouth, mmmm.

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It’s not easy to find innovation in mints nowadays. How many different round mints in rectangular tins can the market sustain, really? That’s why I was so pleased to stumble on the “Great Bite” product line. They have some of the coolest packaging and product shapes I’ve come across in a while. The tins, the round sour packs, the Tic-Tac-like packs - all have a “bite” taken out of them and so do the candies themselves.

The mint tins are your typical Altoids tin shape and size, but the top left portion of the tin is bitten off. Each mint inside is about the size of a Life Saver (with no hole) and a portion of the mint is bitten off too. This theme continues across the whole product line. The mints (and tins) come in peppermint, spearmint, and orange and all taste great except the peppermint - it has a strong licorice taste to it that even my seven year old daughter picked up on (which isn’t good if you dislike the flavor of licorice). The orange was especially tasty and hits you immediately with a strong orange kick.

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When I opened a package addressed to me at Candy Addict, I expected the usual assortment of sugary treats sent by most candy manufacturers. Instead, a bright blue box with the words “Cavity-Free Kit” shone up at me. I wondered if the delivery was my dentist’s idea of a joke. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t want rotten teeth, and have only had one cavity in my entire life (in a baby tooth!) - but as a lover of sugar, I was hoping for a box of sweet stuff.

Curiosity was definitely beginning to overtake disappointment, so I opened the box to find out exactly what a Cavity-Free Kit really is. Inside, I found boxes of gum and mints, a tube of toothpaste, and a bottle of mouthwash. Directions were included with the kit, and after poking through all the boxes to check out the gum and mint flavors, I read about Epic’s ideas for a healthy mouth. Apparently, the sweetener xylitol is key.

Problem number one that I have with Epic is that the directions for obtaining a healthy mouth include using Epic products six times per day. Yes, six. The manufacturer stresses that you can choose the combination of products to add up to six, but I don’t like requirements on my gum and candy. I do, however, love sugar-free gum, especially in pellet form, and was quite excited to give the four flavors a try.

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If I’ve learned anything about gum recently it’s this: gum isn’t just for chewing anymore. No, nowadays it freshens your breath, entertains your taste buds, even sends caffeine coursing through your system. X-it Sugarfree is no exception. In addition to X-it Sugarfree Gum, I also received several different types of mints and bonbons. I have enough gum and mints to keep my breath fresh for a decade.

What’s my favorite thing about these X-it products? Honestly, its the packaging. Each product comes in an attractive tin that tucks easily into your purse or pocket, guarding the lining against spillage. Even better, the tiny mints come in tins with black plastic lining that dispenses a couple at a time - even more protection against spillage!

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Does everyone remember Jolt Cola - the cola with all the sugar and twice the caffeine? I remember people in college pulling all-nighters to study for exams and they used Jolt and NoDoz to stay awake (NOT recommended). I tried NoDoz once and I truly felt like I was addicted to drugs. Never again.

Anyway, back to Jolt….the makers of Jolt thought they would spread their love of caffeine into the realm of gum and have created Jolt Gum, so just for kicks I thought I’d try it out. The package says “2 pieces of Jolt Gum = 1 cup of coffee”. Now I’m not a coffee drinker - I’ve always been afraid I would get addicted to it like my wife and mother are. I do drink Mountain Dew though, so I am no stranger to caffeine. I wanted to wait to try Jolt Gum ’til I was sleepy one morning but the morning I decided to try it I wasn’t any sleepier than usual.

I popped 2 pieces of Jolt Gum around 10:30AM on essentially an empty stomach. The gum is of the “chiclet” variety - the rounded rectangle shape as opposed to sticks of gum. The gum comes in both Spearmint and Icy Mint flavors and I tried one of each (separately). They both had good, strong minty flavors and the flavor lasted a long time - much longer than most gums last, though I didn’t actually time it.

About 15-20 minutes after putting the initial piece in my mouth I got a serious buzz - I felt a little light-headed and just slightly nauseous - I am attributing that to the caffeine kick the gum gave me (and it could have been the Ginseng and/or Guarana it also contains). To someone who drinks coffee frequently, the caffeine from a single cup of coffee could have little or no effect, but I definitely felt it.

So overall, the gum tastes good, the flavor lasts a long time, and I believe it truly does have the caffeine kick that it says it does. Drop by the Jolt Gum website to learn more or even to order some Jolt goodies - gum, cola, T-shirts, hats, etc. Be sure and check out the Jolt Gum FAQ - it has some really funny stuff in it like this:

Do you guys hang out with the 5th Trident dentist who wouldn�t recommend sugarless gum for his patients who chew gum? And shouldn�t they survey more than 5 dentists?
- Jeamie C., NY
A little known fact is that the 5th dentist is either a really really bright dentist or a hypochondriac…
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Jolt Gum website

candy gum mint mountaindew jolt joltgum jolt+gum

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