Discover more in our FAQ
Who can benefit from Zellie’s?
Who can benefit from Zellie’s?
Xylitol benefits everyone, especially those who need an easier way to clean and care for teeth.
Xylitol can be a wonderful tool for special needs children and adults, especially those unable to clean their teeth with a toothbrush. Toddlers, teens, adults and seniors can all enjoy xylitol’s benefits by nibbling a few Zellie's Mints or Gum every day.
Zellie's are a wonderful way to fresher breath, cleaner teeth.
Why Zellie’s are better?
Why Zellie’s are better?
Zellie’s is committed to offering the purest and best tasting xylitol oral care products.
• Lots of xylitol per serving (2 g) = high efficiency
• Delicious, bold, longer-lasting flavors
• No glycerin
• No soy lecithin (we use sunflower lecithin in our gum)
Is xylitol safe for animals?
Is xylitol safe for animals?
Like chocolate, avocados and onions, xylitol is an ingredient that is safe for humans but not recommended for pets. Please keep Zellie’s out of your pet’s reach. For more information on xylitol and pets, please see our blog on this topic.
Is Zellie’s gum more effective than mints?
Is Zellie’s gum more effective than mints?
No. Both gum and mints sweetened with 100% xylitol work equally effectively. People with braces or dentures may find mints are preferable and they offer everyone a great choice of flavors. Improved oral health comes from regular consumption of small amounts of xylitol, and this effect will be most pronounced when Zellie’s are used at the conclusion of every meal, snack or drink.
How much xylitol do you need for oral health?
How much xylitol do you need for oral health?
Zellie’s delicious products provide specific amounts of xylitol. Our gum contains 1 gram of xylitol and each mint contains 0.5 grams of xylitol. Studies recommend 5 exposures of xylitol each day and 6-10 grams total daily.
Try our Zellie’s selection and find what flavor you like best.
How is Zellie’s different from other brands?
How is Zellie’s different from other brands?
Zellie’s are designed by a dentist and crafted specifically with oral health in mind. We have chosen to leave out ingredients that we feel could impede the improvement for oral health. We have loaded each piece of gum and each mint with as much xylitol as possible as this is the specific ingredient that has been shown to improve oral health.
What is xylitol?
What is xylitol?
Xylitol is a naturally occurring sweetener found in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, including, but not limited to: various berries, corn husks, oats, and mushrooms. The Finnish name for it is koivusokeri, or birch sugar, and it was first produced in Scandinavia from xylan, a sugar found in the wood fibers of birch trees. Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in plants. Xylitol is also naturally found in our bodies. We produce up to 15 grams of xylitol from other food sources using established energy pathways. Xylitol is delicious and can be your own special tool for oral health. Best of all, it can help everyone improve the health of their teeth. A few grams of xylitol eaten regularly after meals and snacks is all you need to start seeing improvements. Xylitol creates the ideal conditions for improved oral health.
Are there any known negative effects of xylitol?
Are there any known negative effects of xylitol?
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies xylitol as “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS). Xylitol is also approved as a food additive in EU as E967 and in many other jurisdictions.
For some people with weaker digestive systems xylitol may cause digestive discomfort. Xylitol acts like a fiber when it is in the digestive tract and for some with weaker digestive systems, this may create digestive discomfort. Please consult with your doctor if you are unsure if xylitol is suitable for you.
Xylitol should not be given to pets, particularly dogs. If your pet consumes xylitol, consult a veterinarian.
Is xylitol a good choice for children?
Is xylitol a good choice for children?
Xylitol offers a natural approach to supporting oral health in children. Your children will love the sweet taste of xylitol. You will love knowing that every time your children eat xylitol, they are supporting their oral health.
In the ingredients, it lists “gum base”, what is this made of?
In the ingredients, it lists “gum base”, what is this made of?
Our gum base is a high quality European gum base that is made of a combination of natural and man-made food-grade polymers and waxes. A polymer is a string of molecules (monomers) that usually contain carbon and hydrogen. Polymers are found naturally in the human body, animals, plants, and minerals. In order to be food-grade, the gum base complies with strict international requirements. Gum base is a completely inert, insoluble, non-nutritive substance (if you swallowed it, it would not be metabolized, it would simply pass through the digestive tract of the body). All of the other ingredients that you do consume in our gum are naturally derived.
In an ideal world, we would use a natural rubber called chicle for our gum base. We love the idea of it and we know many of our customers would too. We've actually taken steps in R&D to try and use this gum base, but came up against a few road blocks. Firstly, cost. Our gum is sweetened with 100% xylitol. This ingredient is a lot more expensive than using regular sugar or artificial sweeteners (or a mix). So just by having a commitment to oral health with using xylitol, we set our product at a higher price point than other chewing gum products. Furthermore, we use a lot of this expensive ingredient. We decided to load each piece with as much xylitol as we could, because we know that every milligram makes a difference for oral health. Many of our competitors skimp on the total amount of xylitol per piece so they can have bigger profit margins. We do not. Natural chicle is about double the cost of a mixed rubber gum base. So on top of already using an expensive ingredient (xylitol), If we switched to a natural chicle, the price of our product would become a challenge to most, especially if they are using Zellie's to improve their oral health (which means at least 6 pieces a day). Secondly, texture and taste. Natural chicle does not hold flavor very well, it often sticks to teeth and dental work and after chewing it for a short time it becomes very hard. Additionally, every batch of natural chicle can be different, so having a reliable, uniform texture would not happen. We know a big part of chewing gum is the experience of it (which comes from the texture) and we know this would be severely compromised and less uniform if we used natural chicle.
With all of the above being said, we will continue to explore if there is a way to use a natural chicle gum base, perhaps in a different product line that would have a different price point. We would guess that for the customers that have decided this is important to them, they would be willing to pay more. Additionally as consumers are demanding more natural, organic products, we hope to see more innovations in the gum base field that we can then use in our products.