I found some B Fresh Gum in a local health food store here called Green Grocer. This was a nice bonus for me since it meant I didn’t have to order this online. Its a little more expensive to buy this in the store but it was worth the extra cost to be able to try it out without ordering online first. Plus there is something about walking out of the store with your purchase that just can’t be replaced by clicking the purchase button.
… anyway let me return from my tangent of capitalist trappings.
B Fresh comes in a nice little clear plastic bottle (which is nice, since I can tell when its about time for a refill) and has about 100 pieces of gum per bottle. The labeling is attractive although I would probably have gone with something other than a bee on the label. For those of you out there unaware a bee on vegan products makes some people (myself included) nervous. The reason for this is there are an awful lot of people out there who consider bee products to still be vegan. As a result there are some products out there labeled as vegan but have honey, bees wax, propolis, etc in the ingredients. I’ve read through the ingredients a several times but so far I have found nothing that looks like it would be a bee product. Looks like this one is actually vegan.
Each piece of gum has about 150% of your B12 requirement, for some reason the serving size is two pieces. This is huge for me, as we all need our B12. There are just some mornings that I forget to take my B12, its really nice to know that I will wind up getting my B12 requirement by chewing on some gum. This makes me much less likely to have issues with B12 deficiency since I’m likely to chew at least one piece of gum every day. Personally I’m still going to continue to take my supplement as well though, I’d rather be safe then sorry.. B12 deficiency is no laughing matter.
Okay now what most of you probably care about is how these guys actually taste. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. At first I was a little nervous because the gum has a verry strange red speckling. It almost looked the way my B12 supplements look if they sit to long or if it gets to humid. My fears were quickly allayed. When I bit into the gum for the first time it reminded me a lot of a certs. The taste was very similar although it was a bit more mild. I’m not sure if it activates saliva very effectively or if it actually releases a lot of liquid but I felt like I had a burst of minty coolness almost immediately.
Unlike Peelu this gum doesn’t break down into a nasty pulpy consistency. I was able to chew the gum for 20-30 minutes without breakdown. Flavor also held up remarkably well which was a plus. I finished my last piece about an hour ago and my breath still feels minty fresh. As an added bonus it doesn’t seem to instantly dissolve if it comes in contact with food particles the way peelu does. I know it sounds really nasty, and I’m not advising you chew gum and eat at the same time… That being said when you would chew Peelu after eating the tiny particles of food left in your mouth seemed to destroy the gum, leaving nasty pulpy mess in your mouth… not tasty. This is not so with B Fresh, the gum just keeps going and going and going… alright you get the idea.
The gum is not terribly cheap but its not outrageous either. The little bottle I picked up (100 pieces or so) was about $13 in the store. I’ve seen it online for as little as $10, so as long as you are buying some other items its probably worth buying online. All in all I’m very happy with my new found vegan gum and I’m willing to fork over $10 for a new bottle when this is done.
Note: I purchased the spearmint flavor, I can’t comment on the other flavors.
