Is chewing gum a food?

If chewing gum doesn't disappear when we eat it, is it really a food?

Jimmy Doherty has a go at making his own chewing gum in his food factory. However, alongside sugar and mint flavouring are a few lesser known ingredients that make up the gum base (polyisobutylene, polyvinyl acetate, wax and talcum powder) - components you’d normally find in inedible products like basketballs, candles and glue. Jimmy melts and mixes all these ingredients together before getting stuck into his homemade chewing gum.