Chiclets is an American brand of candy-coated chewing gum manufactured by Perfetti Van Melle. The brand was introduced in 1900 by the American Chicle Company, a company founded by Thomas Adams.[1]
The Chiclets name is derived from the Mexican Spanish word "chicle", derived from the Aztec Nahuatl word "chictli/tzictli", meaning "sticky stuff" and referring to a pre-Columbian chewing gum found throughout Mesoamerica. This pre-Columbian chewing gum was tapped as a sap from various trees.
Chiclets are essentially the same as regular chewing gum, with the innovation of a hard sugar coating offered in various flavors and colors. The original flavor was peppermint and assorted fruit flavors were available in Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, India, Iraq, Lebanon, Mexico, Portugal, Syria, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and parts of the Americas.[2] In some markets, like Mexico, the brand is known as "Adam's Chiclets",[3] named like that after brand founder Thomas Adams.
Both in Brazil and in Portugal, the name chiclete became a generic word for chewing gum due to the popularity of the brand.[4]
Various people have been credited with inventing Chiclets, including the brothers Robert and Frank Fleer[5] and Louis Mahle.[6]
It was mentioned in the Saturday Evening Post in 2019 that as of 2016, Chiclets was discontinued by Mondelez in the United States.[7] [8] It has re-appeared as of 2019, manufactured in Mexico.[9] In 2020 the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board held that the Chiclets trademark had not been abandoned.[7] [10] To further confuse the issue it was noted in an article on the Mashed website that Chiclets, identified as Adams Chiclets, were available at Walmart, Kmart and Amazon in the United States.[7] Ingredient lists now show aspartame being used as a sweetener, while still showing sugar and glucose.
In ice hockey, the slang term "spitting chiclets" describes spitting broken teeth onto the ice (the teeth supposedly resembling Chiclets), a not uncommon event in ice hockey, where hard blows to face are a hazard of play.[11] A popular hockey podcast is named Spittin' Chiclets.