F&T: Quality control issues?

Perhaps I’ve just been unlucky, but over the past couple of months I’ve bought two 25g tubes of F&T French Carotte, from two different vendors, and neither has had the rich sandalwood fragrance I’ve enjoyed from previous purchases. In fact, I suspect that both tubes may be mislabeled, and actually contain Old Paris, rather than French Carotte. When I saw SCasey’s post in another thread about a change in F&T Santo Domingo, it made me wonder if there was something other than bad luck at work here. Has anyone else experienced something similar? I hate to think that Wilson’s has careless employees on the production line for the F&T snuffs, but I suppose it is a possibility.

imps damn imps changing snuff labels.

There have been a few F and T complaints on here over the years, including strange contaminants being found. Maybe WoS don’t have a great turn around of product in this line? Maybe its made in a bathtub by sub contracted apes? Or imps.

I would contact the vendor you received the product from. I know that snuff begins to degrade in flavor, as soon as it is tinned. The canisters snuff come in are not a timeless vacuum.

Actually the FandT tins are some of the best out there and one of the few that are totally airtight. Snuff degrades when it comes into contact with the air, if there is one thing that is not causing the problem its the packaging.

Well this makes me glad I’m stocked up on French Carotte and Santo Domingo! Nice post, I’ve been starting to branch out again after a long stretch of using the same two or three snuffs exclusively, and both of those sound really good to me! Time to do some rummaging around in my snuff drawer today… :slight_smile:

@Snuffster Even if the can is metal, if it doesn’t implement a seal, then it is not air tight. If that package has been sitting around the store’s shelf for many years, as is the case with many B&Ms around here, then its flavor profile has degraded.

F&T cans do have a seal and I can vouch that snuff in their cans will stay fresh for many years. It has been known for shops to open a can for a inquisitive customer, then leave the lid open!

@Snuffster: would you care to elaborate on the contaminants? Your post has me intrigued, but I can’t seem to find any info about them.

the contaminants are that some times a tin will have evidence of corrosion in the form of a white crustiness. A few have sounded like the essential oils have lost their moisture leaving irradescent semi clear crystals. Sorry about the misspellings there are some distractions on my end. I’ve even had both in seperate tins. Both seemed to come from very old stock. There should be some more info in some older posts on snuffhouse.

The F&T tins appear to be made of Aluminium. They do have some sort of rubber seal in the lid, but I would imagine you would get a little corrosion over time. Ally oxide is a white powder so that would indicate an old tin or one that has had its seal broken at some point.

I’ve seen no evidence of contaminants, and Snuffster is right – the F&T tins are well-known for having top-quality seals. That’s why this is so perplexing. I’ve come to expect the best from F&T, and I feel let down by recent purchases. But I suppose any snuff mill can produce a bad batch occasionally. I just hope this isn’t a lasting trend.

Whether its a seal or just the thread that does it, an undamaged FandT can is 100% airtight, or as close as dammit in the every day sense. I don’t use FandT that much but my collection was mostly bought around 1979/80 and is in perfect condition. @doctorbeat - as bob points out, the reports of contaminants have been of whitish flakes which I think a few people found. I’m not sure we every fully figured it out but I go along with bob and bish. Obviously if the tin is damaged in some way its not going to be fully airtight.

I’ve gotten them once I order a decent amount of their snuffs. The white flakes also seemed like it might have been a problem with the sealent on the rubber seal. Which could even be a distributor problem. Possibly expousing the tins to extrememe heat then extreme cold, which can have lots of crazy effects, especialy if it forces the moisture out of the snuff while the seal is expanded then freezes the water in the sealant could crack it up. I don’t know but it’s one theory.

I have got some of those white flakes on top of snuff in a F&T tin but not in contents. It’s probably just rubber or paint flecks from lid or rim. I got similar flecks in my orange juice of screw-cap carton today when some maybe unnecessary force was applied.

I’ve noticed that Santo Domingo will dry, leaving salt crystals in the mix as the moisture evaporates.

I noticed on my F&T, the “whiteness” seemed to be make of the same material as the seal. I could be wrong here, its been awhile since i visted the tin.

Regardless of the QC issues, I still think the F&T’s are damn good… I would really love to see another 1 or 2 scents re-released…

I’ve had the white flakes and the white crystals on the rim and threaded areas. These tins were less than 2 years old. Made me hesitant to use them, now I plan on putting my F & T’s into nice glass spice bottles with cork stoppers. Should I dump out my corrupted stock? I dont want to snuff paint flakes or those white crystals.

I honestly think the white crystals maybe dries out essences. I’ve had white flakes form on some of my oil spills.