Breathalyzers estimate blood alcohol content (BAC) by measuring the amount of ethanol present in the air around the instrument. While chewing gums such as the Orbit brand include sugar alcohol, no ethanol is present in the gum.
Gum Alone
Chewing Orbit for a minute immediately before blowing for a breathalyzer test will not register a positive test. In fact, chewing gum alone will register a .000 BAC on a breathalyzer.
Gum and Alcohol
In a controlled test conducted by My Record Journal at Southington High School, Connecticut, viewable on YouTube, Orbit gum by itself registered a .000 on a breathalyzer. Since breathalyzers measure alcohol present in the air, there is no proof that chewing gum alone will mask alcohol present if it is present. When mixed with other things, such as water or food, gum may contribute to temporarily lowering the BAC measured by the breathalyzer.
False Positives
While Orbit gum alone may not register as a positive on breathalyzers, other products such as mouthwash and cough syrup, which do contain alcohol, can cause a breathalyzer to register a test as over the legal limit for alcohol.
