Trident is a brand of sugar-free
chewing gum
Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its tex ...
owned by the Italian-Dutch company
Perfetti Van Melle. It was originally introduced by
American Chicle in 1960 shortly before it was bought by
Warner-Lambert in 1962. It reached the UK in 2007 when it was introduced by its then-owner
Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods, Inc., Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest c ...
in the United Kingdom. In many other European countries, Trident is branded as
Stimorol gum; it is generally the same as Trident.
Background
When
artificial sweetener
A sugar substitute or artificial sweetener, is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie () or low-calorie sweetener. Arti ...
s became widespread in the early 1960s, the formula was changed to use
saccharin instead of sugar. As a result, Sugar-Free Trident was introduced in 1960 with the
slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group ...
"The Great Taste that Is Good for Your Teeth."
Canadian Chicle's marketing was one of the first national campaigns to promote dental health through chewing gum.
Trident was manufactured by the Canadian Chicle subsidiary of
Warner-Lambert until 1997, when Canadian Chicle became Adams. In 2000, Warner-Lambert was sold to
Pfizer
Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...
and in 2003, Pfizer sold the candy unit (Adams) to
Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods, Inc., Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest c ...
(later Cadbury after selling off the beverages brand in 2007), where the unit became Cadbury Adams. In 2010,
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...
acquired Cadbury, and the Trident brand became part of
Mondelez International
Mondelēz International, Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, Holding company, holding, drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual rev ...
when it was spun off in 2011. In 2023, Mondelez sold Trident and other gum brands to European confectionery manufacturer
Perfetti Van Melle.
For years, Trident was promoted with the slogan, “Four out of five dentists surveyed ''recommend'' sugarless gum for their patients who ''chew'' gum.” This slogan is believed to have been based on the results of a survey of practicing dentists with either
D.D.S. or
D.M.D. degrees, apparently conducted in the early 1960s, whose patients included frequent users of chewing gums; the percentage of respondents to the survey whose responses indicated they would make such references to their patients is believed to have been approximately 80%, rounded off to the nearest full percentage point, of the total number of respondents. It became strongly associated with the Trident brand. As of the middle of June 2014, however, Kraft Foods's Cadbury Adams group, whose parent company,
Mondelēz International, had become owners of the Trident copyright and patents, was not known to have made any public disclosures of any details about the survey, presumably citing the proprietary nature of the survey data and conclusions as its rationale.
In the early 2000s, "See what Unfolds" became the new slogan for the brand.
Trident gum contains the
sugar alcohol
Sugar alcohols (also called polyhydric alcohols, polyalcohols, alditols or glycitols) are organic compounds, typically derived from sugars, containing one hydroxyl group attached to each carbon atom. They are white, water-soluble solids that c ...
xylitol
Xylitol is a chemical compound with the formula , or HO(CH2)(CHOH)3(CH2)OH; specifically, one particular Stereoisomerism, stereoisomer with that structural formula. It is a colorless or white crystalline solid. It is classified as a polyalcoho ...
, which is known as a "tooth-friendly" sugar.
[American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. (2006]
Policy on the Use of Xylitol in Caries Prevention
Use of the chemical has been subject to controversy, as it is highly toxic to dogs.
Trident has been sued for false labeling over its depiction of a blue mint leaf on its Trident original-flavor gum when the gum lacks any real mint.
Products
Original
Trident Original is the first variant of the Trident product. The gum is contained in packs of 3 or 14
wrapped sticks and comes in 6 main flavors, those being: Original,
Bubble gum
Bubble gum (or bubblegum) is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble.
Composition
In modern chewing gum, if natural rubber such as chicle is used, it must pass several purity and cleanliness tests. However, ...
,
Spearmint
Spearmint (''Mentha spicata''), also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is naturalized in many othe ...
,
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...
,
Watermelon Twist, and Tropical Twist.
Vibes

Trident Vibes is a version of the gum created in 2018. Each unit contains 40 unwrapped cube-like pieces. This version of the gum comes in flavors such as "Sour Berry Twist", "Tropical Beat", "Spearmint Rush", and the
Sour Patch Kids flavors of Redberry, Blue Raspberry, and Watermelon.
See also
*
Dentyne
References
External links
Trident's official websiteTrident fact sheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trident (Gum)
Cadbury Adams brands
Products introduced in 1960
Chewing gum
Perfetti Van Melle brands