What is the best plastic-free chewing gum?

Your favorite chewing gum isn’t actually gum—it’s nothing but synthetic colors, flavors, and preservatives, suspended in a plastic “gum base.”

When chewed, this plastic flakes off into microplastics, which have been proven to contribute to serious diseases, including a variety of cancers, heart disease, low testosterone, and decreased sperm quality and production.¹²³⁴

You, and many other health-conscious gum-chewers, have caught on and are now seeking healthy alternatives like Simply Gum, PUR, Underbrush, Falim, Milliways, or Spry. But are these so-called healthy brands truly plastic-free? What are the pros and cons of each? Which should you spend your hard-earned money on?

Best plastic-free chewing gums at a glance

#1. Mastic Gum

Mastic gum is the resin of the Pistacia lentiscus tree, which naturally forms into tough, chewy, bite-sized pieces. Due to its texture and unique natural compounds, on top of being a plastic-free chewing gum alternative, mastic gum is also a great tool to clean your gut and chisel your jawline.

Its piney taste grows on you with every chew, but make no mistake, the flavor of mastic gum is nothing like the saccharine sweetness of your Hubba Bubba, or even other flavored “healthy” gums on this list. Like fine wines, aged whiskeys, Cuban cigars, or Russian black caviar, mastic gum is a delicacy to be savored for its intriguing taste and subtle intricacies.

As it’s the only gum not formulated or modified in a lab, each piece of mastic gum is unique in its shape and resistance, and can be classified into 2 general types of pieces or tears: smaller and more resistant (like Greco Gum’s Droplets) and larger and softer (like Greco Gum’s Nuggets).

Real mastic gum is solely produced on the Greek island of Chios and is always raw and practically unprocessed, only being cleaned for dirt, sticks, and bugs. What comes off the tree is what you receive, no mixing with any toxic BS, flavorings, and certainly no plastic.

That said, many mastic gum companies use plastic packaging, which gets heated up during shipping, contaminating the gum. Opt for mastic gum that uses metal containers and refrigerated shipping to ensure a clean chew. Learn more about how to select the right mastic gum here.

That sounds great. But this stuff must cost a fortune, right?

At first glance, mastic gum can seem relatively expensive—at least if you’re sourcing from high-quality brands and not plastic-packaged, black market mastic commonly found on Amazon. But, considering how you can re-chew pieces multiple times, and how many more pieces come in a typical pack (hundreds in Greco Gum Droplets), you’re actually saving money alongside your health and fertility, which is priceless.

#2. Falim

Falim is a popular looksmaxxing gum because it’s hard and cheap, able to tone the jawline on a budget. Many even tout it as being the best mastic gum, but the elephant in the room is: *it’s not actually real mastic gum. *Mastic is merely an ingredient added to the plastic gum base to reinforce its texture.

But as Falim is a Turkish gum, if you can’t read the language, you wouldn’t know it uses a vague gum base or other toxic ingredients like BHT (also found in rubbers, fuels, and pharmaceuticals). So don’t get duped, ditch the falim. If chewing gum is your thing and you’re looking to enhance your health instead of degrading it, it doesn’t get better than authentic mastic gum.

#3. Simply gum

Packaged in paper and containing chicle—a tree sap from Central America—as its gum base, Simply Gum is a solid choice for a plastic-free chew that eliminates the risk of microplastics. Simply Gum comes in a variety of flavors, if that’s your thing, but it lacks the resistance needed to stimulate major jaw growth.

Because it’s well-established and has been around for over a decade, you can find Simply Gum in many stores and airports, making it a convenient choice if you’re on the go. Simply genius, if you ask us.

#4. Underbrush

Underbrush boasts a spectacular ingredient profile, not only being truly plastic-free—with its gum base of mastic, chicle, spruce, myrrh, and acacia and paper packaging—but also offering remineralizing properties from its nanohydroxyapatite and other minerals.

Our only concerns with Underbrush are its softness and inability to properly stimulate your jaw muscles, and its use of bentonite clay. Although natural and possessing some cleaning and remineralizing properties, bentonite clay can be contaminated with heavy metals like lead that deposit into organs and tissues, causing damage when accumulated. ⁵

We don’t mean to fearmonger over a minor ingredient, but in today’s toxic soup of a world, every potential source counts. A certificate of analysis from a third-party lab showing their bentonite clay is uncontaminated would help us recommend their gum with a better conscience.

#5. Van Man’s Remineralizing Gum

Van Man, a health Twitter OG and early mover in the tallow skincare market, sells a mastic and chicle-based remineralizing gum flavored with organic peppermint oil. Though it’s not quite the same as straight-up mastic gum, Van Man’s gum has adequate resistance, a solid ingredient profile, and comes packaged in glass—meaning fewer microplastics from the packaging and excellent support for your oral health.

We recommend this gum if you’re looking for a casual chew with some worry-free flavor, but why not go the extra mile and just get pure mastic?

#6. Milliways

Also packaged in paper, Milliways offers a reliable plastic-free chewing gum option. Built on a chicle base with bold flavors for those seeking variety, Milliways offers a standard chew that satisfies taste buds but not your jaw muscles. All in, Milliways is still a great choice compared to your average gas station gum.

Our verdict: the best plastic-free chewing gum

Many of the “healthy gums” on the market are, in fact, filled with plastic and other toxins, leaving you with very few truly clean options. For the amateur chewer, more concerned with flavor than function, Simply Gum, Underbrush, Van Man, and Milliways are great clean options.

But for the refined chewer, looking for benefits beyond the taste buds, mastic gum is the only logical choice when you consider its price per chew and gut-cleansing, jaw-toning properties.

Stock up on the world’s healthiest chewing gum with the sweet deals offered in our shop so you can chew with a clear conscience for months to come.

Chew mastic, not plastic.