In pre-school and kindergarten, it was common knowledge that if you swallowed your gum, it would take 7 years to digest. Nobody would do it because we figured we'd run out of room for food after a while. Years later, people began to question it, but really no one was sure. I don't think I quit believing that until the middle of high school.

Eric

My grandmother used to tell my mother not to swallow her gum. She said that the body couldn't digest the gum and that it would just stick to her colon for her whole life. My mom says that she used to picture this tube covered in gum and worried that it would get clogged.

Miss Julie

My mum use to tell us that if we swallowed bubbly gum, it would stick to our hearts.

An-D

There was a popular rumor back in grade school that BUBBLE YUM gum was made with spider eggs.

Amber

My mum told me that if you ate fruit pips they were stored in your appendix, and that if you ate too many you would get appendicitis. She also told me the one about chewing gum wrapping round your heart if you swallowed it. It's a wonder I ate anything when I was small.

Caroline