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Latex is a natural ingredient that comes from rubber trees in the form of a milky liquid. There are thousands of species of plants that produce different types of latex, including the Chicle tree that yields the raw material for producing the rubbery material in chewing gum.
Allergy to natural rubber latex is common and serious in children and adults. Latex is the milky fluid derived from the lactiferous cells of the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis. It is composed primarily of cis -1,4-polyisoprene, a benign organic polymer that confers most of the strength and elasticity of latex.