Let me start by saying, I am not a health nut and I do think Nasal Snuff is generally safe especially when compared to other forms of tobacco. It is also generally established that there are aside from tobacco chemicals and naturally occurring substances that cause or contribute to cancer and other disease. So my question is, as consumers of nasal snuff should we not want to know what we are putting in our nose. I know tobacco is the main ingredient in most snuffs and flavors are added. But are some snuffs mixed with other things and if so, should we not ask what those things are? I have read there have been cases of snuff causing cancer when mixed with other substances. I am not trying to call out manufactures but for example, my favorite Dholakia White: Is it pure tobacco? I would sure like to know what I am putting in my nose. There has also been a recent influx of Chinese snuffs on the US mail order sites. Maybe I am a little biased but in the US, China has had a tough road here with lead, chemicals, etc. in products being sold in the US. To sum up, I would really like to see ingredients listed (Coke does it, even though the recipe is a secret). Some manufactures (Roderick) have stated that pure tobacco and natural (not chemical) flavors are the ingredients and that is acceptable to me. I am not looking for trade secrets, I just want to know if my tobacco is mixed with something other than tobacco. What do you think? Do we have a right as paying consumers to know what we are putting in our bodies?

Do you have a ‘right’ to know whats in it? I suppose thats covered by the law in the country where its made. Personally I couldn’t care less - if its one I like I tend to trust it and with companies like Toque and WoS its safe to assume they know what they are doing.

Right does not necessarily equal law. I personally think if we are spending money to buy a product to consume, we, as consumers, have a right to know what is in it. Thank you Roderick, although I already knew that just from using your product! I agree that I am not concerned about Toque and WOS, some of the other companies, especially from places where standards are not as strict, are the ones I would be most curious about.

Dude, life’s a risk. You kind of have to get over it - unless you’re american than you can ask all the questions you want. In the meantime I don’t want my snuff tins having ingredients labels like bottles of diet cokes.

Gotta agree with Jack on this one.

I like the way Jaap Bes does it. On his web site he lists whats in each of his snuffs so if you care you can go there and look. That also helps you decide if you would like a particular snuff.

I’m glad diet coke has to list its ingredients. Hence, I know that it contains aspartame. Knowing this, I choose not to put it in my body. (as if the taste wasn’t enough to keep me away)

No disrespect, but we are adult tobacco users, just enjoy. I agree we have a moral right as consumers I just mean don’t let it spoil your enjoyment.

There is a certain amount that is proprietary to the manufacturer. Even on things like Coca Cola it list things like “Natural and Artificial Flavoring” but that doesn’t mean they have to tell you what that flavoring is.

Some of the stuff I’ve put in my body over the last 25 years makes snuff look like a candy bar, so I couldn’t care less what’s in it. Thankfully it’s only snuff going in me now and, I’m happy about that!

I also am rather a purist, as probably many of you are. I just hope to be avoiding ingesting much in the way of chemical additives in snuff, smoke, food and drink, but it’s not always convenient to do so. And also agree that sometimes it’s worth the risk if you really like something. Maybe I didn’t make any new points here… O.K. I guess I have one legitimate question here, what about the menthol? I assume it is still naturally sourced from peppermint or cornmint. Or camphor, is it still natural camphor- or the cheap synthetic stuff used in some products these days?

Toque menthol is 100% natural menthol and, Ozona President can have what it likes in it I don’t care if it is chemicals or not? (i guess not) i love it!

Watch the film on the Poschl site, it states that all the flavouring is natural ‘ethereal oils’. I don’t know the regs around snuff production, but I doubt there is anything untowards in any European or US snuffs.

Why don’t we know what the laws are? I’m sure they are there.

I’d like to know what is in snuffs. I’am happy as is however. Though the more you know about what you put in your body the better. I’am somewhat of a health nut and definatly limit my intact of lots of things. I would definatly disappointing to find out that certain things I avoid in foods are in snuff. Though in foods I worry about natural flavors more then artifical flavors (they can actualy put worse things in food under natural flavors then they can with artifical flavors.)

cheapish cigars have a label on the side saying these cigars are predominantly natural tobacco with non tobacco ingredients added whats in those ?

ground up folks

… and Chinese newspapers and apple cores.

and snakes and snails and puppy dog tails.

Brb, have to make a soylant green sandwich.

honestly, what all could they really put in snuff? fake menthol? preservatives? aspartimine? splenda? red #44?

Oh boy…now I’m looking up anatto for a nice red-orange snuff.

I figure as long as its all natural stuff, I don’t really care. If something like aspartame or whatever starts to get put in it, then I’d like to know.

it might be prudent to list ingredients, at least on websites. On the tub could be helpful should you ever find yourself in an unpleasant misunderstanding with law enforcement (yes I got thoroughy blasted in another thread for even thinking about this) and the manufacturers might be safer too (the first time somebody takes snuff in their nose and has an allergic reaction to something in it we might all be done for right there, and I personally would not want to use snuff that has some certain food coloring or some other silliness in it) I think we’ve got a bunch of pretty honest manufacturers right now, but I’m just not one to want to trust everything to 'the goodness of others" (I’ve never been broken into and robbed yet I always lock my door etc) Yes, America is the land of people suing other people for their coffee being too hot etc (wonder when somebody’s gonna drive off the road while sniffing and then we’ll have “danger may cause sneezing”) and if we’ve already got to carry a label damning us all to cancer and other health risks, actually displaying the ingredients I think might kind of make a nice counter remark showing how silly the warning labels are

I really don’t give a darn, it helped me give up smoking (going on a month). That’s good enough for me.

@ Yimes, NUTZ…

@# whistlrr I think that might actually tickle me to see on a tin of snuff “danger may cause sneezing”. lol

@ibild, Really great addition to the discussion. At least Saucy_jack formed a sentence. For those of you who do not care what you put in your body, good for you. I personally have responsibilities to my family and employees that make me care. This is why I switched to Nasal Snuff from American Dip. I suspect there are others that have made the same switch because they do care. By the way, I am not obsessed by this, I have switched to 100% nasal snuff and I do not plan to stop anytime soon.

Of course you have the right to know. What you do with that knowledge is your own business.

@ Yimes Sorry buddy didn’t know you wanted a sentence. Well how about a question; the American dip does it have a list of ingredients? Now I could have said a lot more but saw others already said what i would have said. However I did notice they all left out one word; NUTZ. So I added it!!!

@ibild, I actually took the time to answer your question: From the US Smokeless website. Skoal Long Cut Wintergreen Ingredients * Water * Tobacco * Salt (Sodium Chloride) * Natural and Artificial Flavors * Ethyl Alcohol * Sodium Carbonate * Ammonium Carbonate * Sodium Saccharin * Preservatives

I might be slightly interested to know what is in my snuff. But, right now I would like to keep snuff and other smokeless tobacco products as far off the radar as possible. This 1147 bill and other bullshit that is circulating around is exactly why I don’t want the government any more involved in my tobacco consumption than they already are.

@snuffegnugen: Agreed

I stopped smoking by using snus. I was impressed that they list what is in their products, and by Swedish law they have to. I like my Swedish snus and snuff and I belive it’s far healthier for me than smoking was. But I too would prefer not to use a product that is filled with chemicals that could effect my health.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly is a “natural” ingredient? Every physical substance is part of nature. Does it mean something that occurs as a result of natural forces, without human intervention? If so, then any snuff that’s even flavored with distilled spirits, for example, has an “unnatural” ingredient in it, since distillation of ethyl alchohol does not occur “naturally” but rather requires a process of applied chemistry. Nobody drank distilled spirits until somebody figured out how to “manufacture” ethyl alchohol out of certain grains and fruits. I’ve always thought of the word “Natural” in connection with food products as having more to do with marketing than any sort of generally understood, analytically specific taxonomy of ingredients.

When you breathe “fresh” air, do you know what’s going up your nose AND into your lungs? Snuff only goes up my nose. I’m really not worried what’s in there. People who make a living by producing snuff must be intelligent enough not to sell poison, otherwise they will end up with no customers.

@ snuffgrider …to late! @Whom it may concern … I demand organic tobacco!

about Chew ingredients (its 5AM and I have a lot of other stuff on my mind so bear with my phrasing this) in super general terms I get that american made tobacco products tend to have the ‘bad tobacco’ or ‘bad process’ (you who know what I mean, know what I mean) and Swedish and other stuff tend to be made better (the ‘good tobacco’ or ‘good process’) and maybe I’d like to be able to see that difference reflected… I already wonder if our cheaper american scotches (much as I love them) have any of the ‘bad process’ involved in their making (the bad process that makes them more cancerous or whatever, I know you guys will know what I mean). I’ll use my rooster and the rest of them (I am going ahead with planning perhaps the Largest Snuff Order in History and its gonna be 99% American snuffs, scotches, sweet and otherwise so clearly no its not stopping me ) but I’d like to make more informed decisions I admit it. this ‘bad process’ is precisely why I won’t buy american chew etc and attempt to dry/grind it to snuff (because yeah I thought about that too) @everybody talking about regulation and keeping snuff off the radar: what better way to do that than if manufacturers voluntarily did this before and without their even being asked? (what a handy way to take the wind out of their sails before they can even start) @Pieter – and there’s even EPA and environmental guys ‘regulating the tar out of’ (that’d make a great pun if that’s how I meant it but I don’t) that ‘fresh air’ and if anybody ever cans it for resale, you can be sure it’d be expected to list its contents. Over the counter nasal sprays that ‘only go as far as your nose’ list whats in them, There are things that go on our skin and are ‘only external’ that have to list their ingredients (lotions shampoo, and don’t forget medicinal prescription patches, some not so benign, and cf course nicotine patches)

There is a long list of snuffs (43 to be precise) subjected to a very detailed chemical analysis by Arthur Hill Hassall in his commissioned opus ‘Food and its Adulterations’ , which is available for viewing on the web. Unfortunately it was published in 1855 so is a tad out of date. Many of the snuffs violated existing laws on adulteration. Here are two samples: IRISH SNUFF 4th Sample. — Purchased of M. Pinheiro, 1-43. Whitechapel-road. Vegetable tissue all tobacco ; ash of a light greyish-fawn colour, amount to ‘28-72 per cent., of which ‘28’0 was composed of chloride of sodtm,6” alkaline carbonates, 0’9 ; earthy carbonates, 10’8 ; alkaline phospkata, ‘ earthy phosphates, 4’8 ; alkaline sulphates, 0’8 ; chromate of lead, H; si silica, O’fi grains. SCENTED RAPPEE. 12th Sample. — Purchased of H.Benjamin, 16. High-street, Aldgate. vegetable tissue all tobacco ; ash, reddish-brown, amounting to 27-22 per cent., 2o-2 of which consisted of chloride of sodium, 6’8 ; alkaline carbonates, O’l ; earlfiy carbonates, 5’8 ; alkaline phosphates, 0’3; earthy phosphates, 2’6 ; alkaline sulphates, 2’2 ; oxide of iron and alumina, 4’0 ; and silifu, 4’4 ¡trains. This sample was found to contain a proportion of powdered orris-root ; it is liable that it was not used as an adulteration, but merely for the purpose of adding a scent to the snuff. Do you really want or need a similar tedious list appearing on every snuff label?

The ingredients on Snus tins are pretty worthless: Ingredients: Tobacco, Water, Salt, Humectants, E284 (Smoke Flavoring), Other Flavorings.

@PhilipS Would a note on a website be so terrible, or a note on the very can that at very reflects what process and type of tobacco was used? We know for example, that the process etc used to make American Camal Snus is not the same as Swedish Snus (who manage to adequately list their snus contents). I’m looking at my General mini-portion snus can right now. in size and shape its somewhere between a Toque 10g and Toque 25g tin. Wouldn’t you like to know if you have evil American tobacco (and processes) – and who would be the most confounded at listing (as per your idea) vs you know “Toque: Natural virgina tobacco and Natrual Rasberry extract/juice/flavorings” (or whatever, I have no idea if they use ‘virginia’ or what or just how for example, they get the ‘rasberry’ in there, but you get my point) It also seems to me that if descriptive such as you find on Snuffreviews or MrSnuff’s story that span the length of a sentence or two will do to summarize, this shouldn’t be so difficult Think of “Breyers Ice Cream” and the commercials (at least here in the US) they used to have, of cute kids attempting to read the windy long chemical-ized ingredients of other ‘ice creams’ vs then reading Breyers’ nice short little (‘natural’ and easy to understand) list. Peronsally I’m more interested in the process if its ‘air cured’ or whatever the good way is vs being peticide infested ‘nictone crack added’ crumbs and droppings off the floor of a massive chemical-laden American tobacco industry. People talk about the Chinese and the … issues with stuff showing up with lead in it or not… (I think we’ve got as much to worry about in our own proverbial back yard when it comes to tobacco) would a ‘lead free’ or ‘organic’ labeling etc as applicable that we can count on be such a horrendous thing to ask for? Especially since, as I said before, some of this could go a long way to offset the huge “Danger Will Robinson Danger!” labeling to which we’re obligated… a little reminder/assurance along side that that this is actualy earth grown plant fare(so long as thats what and all it is) certainly couldn’t hurt.

The ingredients for the Scotches are listed on USST’s website. It’s essentially: Tobacco, water, baking soda.

@Yimes You seem hellbent that you are right and those who oppose you are wrong. You sound like a congressman. Make a run for office and make it so. I, for one, am anti-anything that increases government intervention in my personal life.

This takes up maybe about an inch side to side and is really miniscule (I had to get the Sherlock Holmes Magnifying Glass out I have to read it) but here’s what’s listed on my general mini-portion snus (as faithfully as I can see and relay here and yes its in Swedish but even I get the point): Ingredients: Vatten, Tobak, Fuktighetbevarende Medel (e 1520), smarkforestark (koksalt). surhetsreglerande medel (e 500), aromer inkuslive rokarom. half of that could be huge just simply because its in Swedish, and I count a total of six ingredients, the first two being water and tobacco. Is that so tough? Sweden makes them put this on their labels, but we’re using them in the US where it can be seen, has this brought undo focus to snus? EDITED to add – I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ve been talking about the idea of this being voluntarily done by snuff makers (for partial purpose of warding off being ordered to do it if they’re already doing it on their own).

Being in the chicken business for many years and constantly being grilled on if we carried ‘organic’ chicken, I have to say there is a slight misunderstanding. If most folks have ever seen a picked, dressed chicken ,that was ‘free range’, they would be surprised how spindly, yellow skinned, and mal-nurished it appears. Most also have manure blisters on their breast from lying down in whatever dirty area they please. What do you expect, they’ve been eating anything they find–worms, droppings, nails (if available), and eachother, if left to themselves. The market demand leads the growers to do what they do. People want large, plump breast chickens, (sorry if it’s too early to talk like this), with what most consider a pale white healthy skin. That’s what the grower tries to achieve by raising his birds a certain way. That’s what sells. I see people pulling back corn husks at market saying,“I won’t buy this, I see one worm or the kernals are underdeveloped” Pisses me off. I’d tell them, “well next year I’ll be sure to load the shit out of my crops with pesticide so you can go home with a pretty product” There has to be either a middle ground OR people have to understand their image of what a product LOOKS like is going to have to change. The same could be said for tobacco, I would venture to guess. People wanted quicker turn around on crops, higher yield, healthier LOOKING crops, which I would think encouraged the use of certain chemicals and pesticides. Believe me, my tobacco I grew was not as pretty as I would have liked it to be. All the chemicals being used in large productions, I’m not sure of, but I’m sure some are necessary, just as nutrients in chicken feed is as well, to achieve what the consumer wants, unfortunately.

Adding to this, if you were to say why don’t we demand all growers of tobacco, crops, livestock switch to a more chemical-free style of growing/raising? I agree wholeheartedly! But some blame lies with us. Try to understand the percent of the population that supplies compared to the percentage that consumes! In some ways our expectations are not fair. The grower has a fine line of error he is able to walk in his livelihood. If I know I can grow 50 acres of watermelon and my yield will be 50% better using some type of tested pesticide than if I don’t, it’s a no-brainer. But that’s only half the equation. Even if I could have the same yield WITHOUT chemicals, my product may not sell due to a poor appearance, =I will still fail! On top of this, when a man deals in perishable items and other ‘ingredient’ prices of which he may not have control,(corn prices, fertilizer prices, draught, too much rain) one cannot blame young people for choosing a different path than their parents (leading to bigger farms, perpetuating the monster) There has been a move to niche farmer’s markets in my area, but until that grows larger, you may have to pay a premium to get what you want. This is kind of off subject-I just wanted to give a different point of view. Possibly, until there is a change on an individual consumer’s habits, some trends will continue. Everyone needs a Victory garden, I suppose,haha! Truthfully, I’d worry more about chemicals on our food that we INJEST more than tobacco that just enters my nose, but I can see the reason for some people’s concern.

+1

@zanaspus, I respect other peoples opinions. I have my opinion and other have theirs and I do not think of mine as right or wrong it is simply my opinion. What you have not seen is me calling anyone nutz or telling anyone to get over it. If you oppose my opinion great, all I ask is that you do it intelligently rather than simply calling me names or dismissing my opinion altogether. If someone chooses to do that fine, but how does that add to a discussion that obviously some people have an opinion on? My goal was to start a discussion and hear other peoples opinions. I have simply stated my opinion and have not argued with anyone about their valid opinions. I agree with you, I am not advocating government intervention here, rather I would prefer the manufacturers take it upon themselves to list ingredients. I especially think that if certain manufacturers are using the quit smoking theme to sell snuff because it is healthier, they should allow the consumer to know what they are selling. Thank you for your opinion, I will not however, be running for office, too many skeletons in the closet. @cstokes4: I agree the ingredients list is not overly helpful but if you add lime and betel leaves to that list I would stay away from it. I point this out because according to some research, lime and betel leaves added to snuff has been shown to cause cancer. This is really what I am talking about when I say I would like to know what is in my snuff. I can accept the inherent dangers to tobacco alone (if there are any) but if some snuffs have “other ingredients” in them I would like to have the choice to stay away from them. @zanapus, see I am not putting down other peoples opinions, I am responding to interesting dialogue and opinion.

@bart, well said!

You’re welcome. Thanks for throwing the subject out there.

@Yimes: If the snuff has betel nut and lime in it, it usually says so, as it is a selling point for the product.

Thanks for the info

@ Yimes, you say according to some research, lime and betel nut added to snuff caused cancer. Will you please tell us who did the research, when was it done and where did you learn about it? This is very important and I would like to hear from you soonest.

“At least Saucy_Jack formed a sentence” sounded kinda putdownish to me. *shrug*

Here’s my point. Who’s old enough to remember Coke and 7-up in 7 oz bottles? Those were delicious and monumental. I suspect their current insipidness stems at least in-part from someone wanting to know “what’s in it?” I’ll shut up now.

@Pieter, about a year ago, when I switched to Nasal Snuff, I did a ton of research online. I can not recall exactly where I read this but a Google search should find some information. I probably should not have used betel and lime as an example, because I did not want this thread to become a specific defense or bashing of certain ingredients or snuffs. I do not know if the studies were done well or if they apply to oral or nasal use, so I probably should not have used it as an example. It was just the only thing that jumped to mind as an example of what I was thinking when I started this thread. OK, after typing above I did a quick Google search and here is what I found: It appears the betel and lime studies or information were focused on oral use and the findings were not that it caused cancer but showed an elevated risk. My apologies if I misstated anything in my previous post as I was simply trying to explain my thought process and not call out any particular product.

@Zanaspus – I haven’t thought about those 7 oz bottles in a really long time… not sure I’m quite following what you’re saying here though (seriously) are you saying the little bottles are gone because somebody asked whats in them (and the labels on the little bottles wouldn’t have been big enough to hold a contents list?) Otherwise I don’t gt it. I guess on thinking about it now I would have just guessed that size just wasn’t a very good selling/marketing move, didn’t sell enough and they quit it (but that’s just a guess of course). The only place I can see real troubles with ingredients not fitting would be bullets.

I refer to the taste of the sodas back in those days. They were very different from that which remains now. I suspect that they had ingredients that wouldn’t be blessed by the FDA these days, and I miss them dearly. Do the absence of those ingredients make us live longer? Probably, but so what. I watched lots of relatives including both my parents in the “drooling years.” I’ve taken reckless steps with my body to carefully avoid that fate. My father used to say all the time when I was young, “I’m going to live to 100.” Now, at 92, when I remind him of that statement and what he wished for, he goes on the verge of tears (and I’ve never seen him cry). At this point, there are literally thousands of certified organic products. If one wishes to live with only these, good on them. If long life is your wish, snuff isn’t really a product you should be dabbling in anyway. So I ask, “why do we need to know what else is in it besides tobacco?” Even so, Roderick has assured us of natural ingredients, so if snuff makes your short list of “healthy products,” snuff Toque exclusively.

P.S. I’d also like to apologise publicly to Yimes. In a bad mood, I went looking for a pissing match, and that’s not generally my style.

The main difference in taste may be cane sugar v. high-fructose corn syrup.

@Zanaspus I don’t know… I will grant you that a lot of ‘stuff just tasted better’ many years ago… but I don’t know how much of that is a memory thing, a taste changing thing (such as we experience now with snuff) or the packaging (I swear for example coke tasted better in glass bottles). I have nothing to do with your dialog with Yimes, but just as an observer I just want to tell you that respect goes out to you for your words there. back on topic: I just think its erring on the side of safety to voluntarily do a Breyer’s Ice cream type or snus type ingredients move if they would (I men everybody, I was using Toque as an example because I can better guess at what they might say), and since we were just talking about our thoughts on it those are mine, but its also not critical to me that they do this (I’m n ot going to quit snuffing if they don’t etc). I’m not ‘heated’ over the topic or anything, I guess I’m guilty of just continuing to talk for the sake of talking or something when I should maybe just give something a rest (its also very easy for people to misread ‘tones’ or more so, their absence, reading 'voice influctions or whatever from our own heads over the internet, we should all remember that)

As BB1 said, pop made with cane sugar taste better.

No apology necessary, its not a big deal, but I appreciate it nonetheless. I will return the apology to you and the forum if I have offended anyone with my comments. On the subject of the sodas, could the taste difference be REAL sugar? Have you had the Pepsi Throwback made with REAL sugar (not High Fructose Corn Syrup)? The taste is substantially different. I would have liked it better if I had not seen the calorie count of a 16 ounce bottle before trying it. **Edit**I got distracted at work when typing the above and then posted without checking to see what had been posted while I was distracted. Sorry.

As BigBlue1 said: “I know that their is a distinct difference in taste between the Pepsi throwback which is made with real sugar than the regular pepsi… I love the throwback” As for calories, a can of regular Coca-Cola (HFCS) has well over 100, it might be closer to 200.

LHB you are right about natural ingridents. Legaly it’s pretty much what you consider natural and isn’t legislated in any real sense. Natural is the most meaningly thing you can find on a package. You’d have to ask the manufactuer what natural means to them.

yeah its amazing how much better the cane sugar verzions are. And it’s better for you too easy for the body to process and less chance of allergies. Love the way the mountain dew actualy has a real citrus taste.

Re: what Bart said - I had the pleasure of seeing the movie ‘Food Inc.’ a few months ago. Its something everyone in the US really needs to see. Its pretty important to know where your food comes from. People are more easily led by marketing campagins then they are by their own good sense. I CHOOSE not to consume high fructose corn syrup becuase it is my RIGHT. That right has been gauranteed by government authority. I would not trust Coke and all other companies to volunteer that information. The last time I had a coke was in Mexico about 4 years ago. I allowed myself that one there because they don’t have a subsidized corn industry and still use sugar in their Coke. It was pretty tasty. My understanding is that the tobacco companies in the US are required to make available to the public their ingredients. They are not required to do so on the packaging. In the internet age, that’s good enough for me. Tobacco companies in other countries of course are not bound by this law.

A bit ot, but in line with Xander: the Coke in glass bottles from a Mexican market (we have at least three of them in Kalamazoo) has a reputation for being especially tasty. Now I know why! Back on topic, I certainly wouldn’t mind knowing what was in my snuff.

@Xander: Now I know why Coke and Pepsi tasted so good in Honduras. Dammit! They still use sugar!

Kzoo! “Yes, there really is a Kalamazoo” Home of Bell’s Beer, former home of Upjohn’s, Les Paul/Gibson Guitars, once called “Celery City,” and even briefly “Windmill City” and was originally “Bronson” (before Mr Bronson was chased out of town for something, (might’ve been horse theft not sure, then started anew and made the smaller "Bronson’ that exist in a nearby county where you can confuzzle out-of-towners by informing them “I can boil eggs in Coldwater” (often chased by the informative “I came to Climax” and the ever popular “I’ve been to Hell and yes its frozen over”) (ask me how I know)

Eh?

lol sorry cstokes4… a few insider “Southwest Lower Michigan” jokes (and no we’re not being redundent when we say it like that) Slobandtom do we have any Indian grocery stores in kzoo? (every medical professional I’ve seen lately is Indian and so I’m thinking they live in the area… somewhere… and might have Indian/ethnic groceries that might be good for scouting as potential snuff source, but I never have noticed any such stores or even much in the way of Indian people out and about – which may well be the result of the fact that I ‘don’t get out much’)

Southwest Lower Michigan. Jeesh, might as well go by your zip code! LOL! Once worked with a guy from Kalamazoo, nice guy, a little high strung but nice. Where was I… Oh yes… Whiskey.

LOL cstokes4 we’re a bit bigger than you’re thinking – the area that covers my particular zipcode really isn’t very big and we’ve got a good 10 or more just for this city alone (we say “southwest lower Michigan” to distinguish ourselves first from “upper Michigan” known as the Upper Penisula or more commonly to us as just “the U P” and then to further hone in… we could just hold our read-made Michigan Maps up and tell you we ‘live on the knobby wristbone’ and “you are here” but without the face to face visual on that it’d only confuse you further)

Nope, the knobby wristbone thing worked for me.

Lemme put it this way and without being any more specific than this I am very centrally located in kzoo… but no matter where I want to go it is absolutely always and forever somehow every single time always “way across town” from me (seriously! You should be a fly riding in my buddy’s car and hear this) And now I promise to get back on topic… seriously (its just that well. *here* is a favored topic of mine…) we now return you (unless somebody else says something and gives me another reason to talk about it more lol) to you regularly scheduled discussion (and maybe Slobandtom knows the "indian grocer’ "can we find Indian snuffs etc or is “Smokes on Burdick” all we got? etc)

Yeah, continuing the OT, the Mexican markets here have those glass bottle refillable Coke bottles too. Usually they sell out right away, and you pretty much only have a chance of getting some if you know when they expect a shipment. Coke USA frowns upon this, even though they’re making the money in the end. If it expanded too far outside the Mexican community, they’d probably try to nix it somehow.

Know also that there are plenty of easily available US-made sodas that use cane sugar – Jones, Blue Sky, 360, etc. Some of those even have an organic line.

I do know, thanks. But I pretty much only drink tea now. I don’t refuse cane sugar, like I would HFCS, but I keep it minimal. I use honey in my tea! Once in a blue moon I pick up one of those independent ones though.

One thing I’ve always heard besides the cane is that the older thick Coke bottles were able to take higher carbonation pressures-(and of course their use for cleaning crusty battery terminals)

Well for town names and silly jokes. Near where my dad grew up in Pa there are three towns. Intercourse, paradise and blue ball. I think you can figure out the jokes from that.

Bob, that’s my neighborhood!

I understand your concerns, Yimes. When I buy my cigars and my snus and my loose leaf tobacco and nasal snuff I do it because I love tobacco (except for cigarettes). We all, as people, have expiration dates. i accept that - but I’d like to do as i wish without a cop telling me to buckle up or that tobacco and beer will kill you. The questions you ask are pertinent - but really, I won’t sit down in my tobacco shop and discuss what’s in my cigar with my fellow smokers. why ruin the mood? we are doing what we love - and in a world so afraid of living and doing what one loves - why should I? In our PC day and age where I simply have to know how much carbs a cracker has - I’m really overloaded. I don’t care anymore. My nasal snuff is my pleasure. What is it you want to know? Will you die because the ingredients aren’t listed on the nasal snuff tin - my guess is yes, anyways. The very air we breathe is befouled. I actually wish this thread would disappear.

Jack, can’t speak for Yimes, but for me and perhaps others there are substances in the world more scary than tobacco to us. Some of us don’t care about the tobacco side of things, we care about the addituve side of things. We are comfortable with the risks of tobacco, and we don’t worry about that too much. Some things if they can be avoided, then we’d prefer to avoid them. Do you see what I’m saying? No one’s trying to ruin anything for you. And when I sit down with beer makers and beer conosuieurs, you better believe they talk about additives. Most are very proud about purity and cleanliness and natural quality.

Ha! No, Xander, i get you loud and clear! I drink only the finest beers myself. And I like to think my tobacco is just as pure. i’d rather enjoy it than have a weird meltdown over numerous possibilities, you understand? i mean, my god man, the world’s going to hell in a hand basket and there are seemingly no brakes. what should we do? protest? i see both points of view - but what can you really do?

Is that a rhetorical question?

Wasn’t me. Juxtaposer, maybe?

I carry an anatto snuff with me at all times now to fake nose bleeds getting me out of situations that I get myself into all the time now because I have anatto snuff to get me out of them all the time and my walls have framed anatto butterflies to remind me of the stickiness of the situations. As my “ornery” wall can only fit twelve hankies I will be offering this anatto art on E-Bay soon. I think the one that looks like the virgin mary will fetch quite a bid. (pure fiction)

I wish some of the more complex snuffs would identify some of the scent profiles to help guide my enjoyment of the scent.  Many perfumes do this, it increases the enjoyment in my opinion.  Super Kailash for instance, initial impression - enjoyable, interesting, unidentifiable scents blended together.  Reading some reviews by decent writers however, describing the lemon grass notes, white pepper, blue mint, has helped ‘guide’ my nose to enjoying the subtle nuances within that blend.  I don’t think there’s any huge risk to a manufacturer in identifying specific scents used, all the simpler one or two note snuffs already do this.  

I would be more inclined to buy snuffs from manufactures who voluntarily disclose what is in them on their website or wherever?and would be good marketing for those who uses more natural ingredients and processes in making their products.

@snuffandsympathy there are people who work for several of the snuff makers on this list. Like Roderick who owns toque. That’s a neat part about the state of the hobby at the moment. We’ve got a crazy level of access to the people who make our snuffs. I guess that was a really wordy way of saying asking them directly might do the trick.

@bob I do appreciate that and was not criticizing them, I do buy Toque for example both because I enjoy the snuffs and their openness as a company…was just commenting in a general way. On the other side of that I would not of purchased Elmos Reserve recently if I had done more research on the snuff?stinks of artificiality.

@snuffandsympathy respectfully, I do believe that if you were to put a tonka bean or two in a tin of Viking Brown that you would find yourself with the same aroma. It’s resemblance to say leather polish Ibelieve is more of an aroma association than an artificial and/or toxic inclusion. Curious to hear any other perspectives, but I believe your assessment is an understandable mischaracterization of the snuff. Thanks

@ar47, could be maybe I should air it out. I have made desserts with tonka steeped in cream and such and the flavor and aroma was very mellow despite the amount I have used.

i would also like to know the ingredients, one of the reasons why i like toque (natural flavors) aside from it being wonderful snuff.

I should also mention that i found a metal shaving in one of my “artisan” snuffs a few days ago. not a big deal because i saw it and took it out, but if there are smaller pieces id be concerned

smaller operations probably have less QC 

@mycelium Surely, exceptions are possible, but I would rather expect the opposite - the smaller the manufacturer / the scale of production, the better QC. Manual run (especially final sifting) allows you to spot and remove foreign bodies.

I’ve found metal shavings, parts of insects and human hair in industrial grade snuffs. No wonder at all, when you watch old videos about snuff making. For instance, up until very recently SG snuff were made in the very same manner using old machinery, some operations were carried straight on floor, no body protection etc.

Tasty snuff is like tasty sausages, in as much as I am probably happier not knowing whats in it. I trust them not to add anything too noxious, as I dont think any of them want to kill off their customers. The only ingredient that I want to know about is menthol, so I can steer well clear.