Doctor, your patient was chewing gum in the preop area. He spits it out now and says he hasn't eaten anything since midnight. What would you do?

Chewing gum causes increase salivation and thus the patient is not NPO since midnight. While some anesthesiologists will accept the increase risk of the patient aspirating gastric contents into the lungs during intubation, you are expected to follow standard guidelines unless otherwise instructed by your attending.