Swallowed Gum Takes 7 Years to Digest

My Aunties and Tita's used to tell me this when I was small, "Don't swallow the bubble gum it will take year's for that to be digested". I don't know if this is true or not, until now when i came across a article in a woman's magazine. It states there that humans have chewed on plants and other substance for thousands of years and this specious claim might have been made up by mother's who were tired of hearing their kids make smacking noises all day, or who thought that gum chewing was low class. Gum doesn't break down in the digestive system, but it passes through like anything else. If you're regularly swallowing wads of gum, then they could meld into a giant blob in your stomach and cause some problems, but the occasional swallower has nothing to worry about.