VerdictConsider avoiding

Chewing-gum

Ingredients0Coverage0/0 resolvedDriversNo priority drivers flagged

Decision lens

Focused on food use. Bias toward food-use coverage and published ingestible context.

Food health

Food healthHigh

Contains additive of concern

Cochineal / carmineInsect-derived red colour; documented allergic and anaphylactic reactions.
Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)Antioxidant; animal-study tumour/endocrine signals; structurally related to BHA.
AspartameSweetener; classified as possibly carcinogenic, though the evidence is contested and intake-dependent.
Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)Synthetic emulsifier linked in animal and in-vitro studies to gut-microbiome disruption and intestinal inflammation; human evidence is emerging.
Acesulfame KSweetener; broadly assessed safe but some consumer-avoidance and limited animal-study questions.

Why this band?