Candy Review: Sugarfree Quench Gum

Monday, September 7, 2009 - by Laurie

Quench Gum is made by Mueller Sports Medicine Inc. (an even less appetizing-sounding association than regular sugarfree gum’s relationship with dentists). According to Quench’s website, Quench has been around for over 30 years, and this “sports gum” is chewed by athletes from teams like the Cowboys, the Lakers and the Packers.

We’ve previously reviewed the regular version of Quench, but it’s also available in sugarfree – after all, who wants to down a bunch of sugar right after a heavy workout? (Well yeah, me too, but it’s just so counterproductive, OK?) Both versions of Quench claim that they can actually quench your thirst and refresh you after a hard workout.

Gum can stop you from being thirsty? And here I’d been drinking water all these years like a chump! This could be the greatest breakthrough in candy technology since Willy Wonka’s meal replacement gum – and even that was a little iffy in the dessert area, or so I’ve been given to understand.

I decided to test this product’s claims under the optimum conditions: after biking home from work on the hottest summer day possible. Unfortunately, that day never materialized (it’s been a very cool summer), so I decided that today would have to do. Fortunately, despite the lack of cooperation from the weather, my two-wheeled commute left my throat as dry as a five-year-old stick of Juicy Fruit. Resisting the urge to grab a cold one out of the refrigerator, I reached for my pack of Quench instead.

This pack (courtesy of the All Candy Expo) is the Fruit Blast flavor, described on the package as “a mouthwatering explosion in every pack!” This is the chicklet-style blister-pack type of sugarfree gum. Unlike others of its kind, the rectangular, pink-speckled pieces are soft, without the usual crisp candy shell.

The gum has a refreshingly tangy, sour fruit punch flavor, with little crunchy crystals that quickly dissolve for a sort of juicy, moistening effect in your mouth. The tangy flavor was long lasting, and unlike the last sugarfree gum I reviewed, Trident Splash Orange Swirl, not just because of aspartame’s impossible-to-get-rid-of aftertaste. These are sweetened with acesulphame potassium, a milder-flavored sweetener that doesn’t have that characteristic aspartame flavor. (That stuff is also the reason I can actually stand to drink diet sodas these days.)

So it’s pretty tasty stuff, but was I any less thirsty afterward? Well, that’s difficult to say. The tangy sourness and dissolving crystals did seem to stimulate the flow of saliva in my mouth, helping to rehydrate my parched throat and taste buds. It goes without saying that it didn’t actually introduce any new liquid into my system, making it no replacement for actually drinking something if you’re actually dehydrated, but in terms of reducing the sensation of thirst, it does what it’s supposed to. It couldn’t hurt to throw a pack in your pocket for extended workout sessions – as long as you have a big cold glass of water waiting for you once you’re finished.

• Quench Gum Website

Buy Quench Gum Online:

• at Blair Candy
• at Candy Favorites