Re: Chewing gum and pigs gut

The basic substance for gum bases are rubber/resin type products.  These 
components are typically of vegetable origin or man made.  Back when I was 
first studying food science it was typically chicle, but I'm sure that has 
changed with time.  I did have some contact with L.A. Dreyfus, one of the 
largest manufacturers of gum base in the world, a few years ago and they 
had indicated that they didn't carry any animal products in the plants.  
Likewise I checked with Gum Base Company of Italy, a large exporter to the 
world markets, and didn't find any mention of pig products.  They state 
that gum base is typically made from five components:

Gum base raw materials are generally grouped in five classes: 
-  Elastomers: including natural and synthetic rubbers 
-  Resins: rosin esters, terpene resins, PVAc 
-  Plasticizers: waxes, vegetable oils, glycerides 
-  Adjuvants: calcium carbonate, talc, or other charging agents 
-  Antioxidants 

The only thing in this list that might come from pigs are the glycerides.  
Glycerides are made from fats, which are chemically triglycerides.  By 
removing some of the fatty acids you can create mono- or diglycerides.  
While these could be made of pig fat, it wouldn't necessarily come from 
the intestines.  They can also be made from any fat source such as soybean 
oil, coconut oil, beef tallow, fish oil, etc.