Why Is There Carnauba Wax in My Gummi Bears?

Imagine my surprise, when by happenstance I checked the ingredients on the back of the bag of one of my favorite gummi candies.

Let’s see … corn syrup, sucrose, gelatin, apple juice (that’s good, right?), natural and artificial flavor, carnauba wax.

Hey, wait a minute, what’s that doing there? Isn’t carnauba wax for the outside of my car?

Know what really makes me so unhappy?  It’s not as if I’m not aware that one should always read the ingredients of anything that we decide to ingest.  I do know that, but really, is nothing sacred?

Guess what?  I now know carnauba wax is put in a variety of foods in addition to be used on my floors.  As this writer from FitSugar notes:

I didn’t know this, but carnauba wax is often called the “queen of waxes.” It’s a hard substance, so it’s used to make durable coatings for floors and cars. It’s also used in polishes, varnishes, and beauty products like mascara, deodorant, and lipstick. In foods, it’s used as a coating or anti-caking agent, and can be found in frosting, candies (such as Altoids and Tic Tacs), gum, gravies, and sauces.

All of this leads me to another imponderable. Why is my chewing gum individually packaged in plastic?

For years we got along fine with our Chiclets packaged in a paper product with cellophane to show the gum product. 

Now, most gum is hermetically sealed… in plastic! The gum will last 15 minutes and the plastic that will last many hundreds of years longer than the gum. 

Isn’t this just a bit excessive?  Really, the operative word is silly. This is a silly, nonsensical use of plastic.