> > > Is a bag of chips food? How about a six pack
> > >of soda?
> >
> > The chips are food, the BAG is not. If you put the whole bag into your mouth in order to get the chips out, does that make the bag food or does it just mean that you're chewing on a non-food product in order to get at the food that is inside it?
> >
> > Likewise, the gum is not food. Sugar is food. "Flavor" might be food. GUM is not food.
>
> Definitely the chips are food and the bag is not. But when one says "a bag of chips," generally one is referring to the chips, rather than the bag. Saying "a bag" of chips or "a six pack" of soda, while technically terms that describe containers, usually have the functional purpose of describing a certain quantity of chips or soda. If I say, "I ate a bag of chips yesterday," nobody assumes I ate the *bag*, just that I ate an entire bagful of chips. Consequently, "a bag of chips" is food by its common use definition and non-food by its literal definition.

And yet, when was the last time you said (or heard someone say) "I ate some gum?" I don't know as I've ever heard that. It's always "chew" gum - not "eat." This is probably not accidental usage - to my thinking, we don't refer to "eating gum" because gum is *not* something to be eaten, and therefore not food.