A Viral Gum Brand's Counterfeit Problem Shows What Food Fraud Looks Like Now

LifestyleDiningA Viral Gum Brand's Counterfeit Problem Shows What Food Fraud Looks Like NowByStephanie Gravalese,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about food culture—what we eat and what it says about usFollow AuthorApr 28, 2026, 07:00am EDTFood fraud has long hidden in supply chains, from diluted olive oil to mislabeled seafood. A $30 million gum brand's battle with more than 800 online counterfeits shows how fast it now reaches consumers directly.After a spruce-sap gum went viral on TikTok, counterfeit versions flooded online marketplaces. The consumers who bought them had no idea what they were actually chewing. Food fraud costs the global food industry up to $15 billion a year, and it's no longer hidden in supply chains.UnderbrushEvery pack of chewing gum sold in the United States lists something called "gum base" among its ingredients, a term that can include dozens of synthetic polymers, plastics, and rubbers without disclosing which ones. Most people never flip the package over, but Nate Mal did, and what he found led him to spend two years building Underbrush, a gum made from spruce sap, mastic resin, and chicle, the tree saps that all chewing gum was made from before the industry moved to synthetics. Three TikTok videos showing the process generated $1 million in sales according to the company. Within two years, the company had grown to 60 employees and surpassed $30 million in annual revenue, built almost entirely on ingredient transparency.Now more than 800 counterfeit versions of Underbrush are for sale online, and the people buying them have no way of knowing what they're actually putting in their mouths.After the brand went viral, counterfeit listings began appearing across TikTok Shop, Amazon, Temu, Walmart Marketplace, Facebook, and eBay, many using near-identical packaging, lifted product descriptions, and slight variations of the company's name. &quo...