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Perceived Risk versus Empirically Founded Benefit of Masticating Gum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2021

Sweta CHAKRABORTY
Sweta CHAKRABORTY*
Affiliation:
Principal, Adapt to Thrive, Washington, DC, 20001, USA; email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Despite robust evidence on the benefits of gum mastication as compared to its risks, places such as Singapore still outlaw chewing gum outside of medicinal purposes. Chewing gum has therapeutic and cognitive benefits such as reduced stress and increased attention, and its associated costs such as littering are disproportionately upheld and still prosecuted against in Singapore. This is a clear example of a policy implemented based on perception rather than cost–benefit analysis. Policies, even as minor as those related to gum mastication, must be entrenched in evidence, and any accompanying costs (eg littering) can and should be deterred through evidence-based communication efforts.

Type
Reports
Information
European Journal of Risk Regulation , Volume 12 , Issue 3: Special Issue on Biotechnology in International Economic Law and Human Rights , September 2021 , pp. 720 - 723
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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