I went upstairs to refill a couple of smashboxes and make a new menthol and when I went to open my jar of Molens Bon Bon, I noticed that it had started to mold. Just a few fuzzy spots on one part of the snuff. Like the rest of my snuffs, it was immediately decanted from its original container into a mason jar and sealed. It’s only been open two times before and immediately closed. I’m not sure how the mold occurred and how to prevent it or what to do now. What do I do with the rest of this snuff? How do I prevent it from happening with my other snuffs (even though other moist snuffs that I’ve owned and have been stored in the same manner for much longer show no signs of mold or other spoilage)?
This very same thing happened with my Bon Bon jar, I tried letting it air for a bit but then it just kept molding and started to smell foul. So I chucked it and even though it pained me, I swore off bulk jars of Molens… especially for the price I paid. I thought it was something I had done, but it was stored in a dark, cool cabinet along with everything else I have.
Edit:
I think it is just the jars that are used, I’ve never had this issue with any other containers from WoS, SG, GH.
I’d throw it away. That mold growth is only the visible part, the snuff is probably full of mold. I wouldn’t think that it would be wise to stick any of it up your nose, even if you scrape off all the mold you can see.
Take off the top layer and decant into a CLEAN jar. Mold and tobacco go hand in hand. Spores are everywhere in the world and the amount of spores inside snuff that is just starting mold on top can’t be so much as to worry about ie. spores and mold are not the same thing. If you have enough snuff to consider saving you may want to let it dry out a little for storage so mold will not grow. Of course if it smells overwhelmingly moldy it might be ruined. Tobacconists certainly consider mold when making their products and do add anti-mold agents. I know it’s done with pipe tobacco. I don’t recall hearing so much about this being done with snuff. I suppose you could add your own.
Were the jars sterile? If so, then the mold was already far along in the tobacco.
In the case of the latter, if purchased recently, I would contact the seller to discuss the quality issues.
My only snuff to grow mold were a couple of Molens de Kralngse ones that I rehydrated. I presumed that it was either due to inadvertent direct contact with water on my part or the nature of the primitive equipment used in the manufacture of this snuff. Its probably impossible for Jaap to keep hs mills 100% sterile 100% of the time. Not a big loss though as snuff is best to be bought fresh and used quickly.
In the cigar world, mold occurs when 2 conditions exist: High humidity and temperatures above the high 70’s Fahrenheit.
(Hence the 70/70 rule for humidors)
It happens to them even when they are well packaged, because mold spores are almost impossible to eliminate.
They are everywhere that air is.
I’d say that with moist snuffs, (especially those with flavorings that may well contain naturally occurring sugars and carbohydrates), they are going to be more susceptible to mold.
If that’s the case, your best bet would be to refrigerate them to retard mold growth.
I don’t really trust mason jars too much for storing bulk snuff. I much prefer a bail-and-clamp jar with a rubber gasket. One thing to look at would be how much air was left in the container, though. I know a 1 quart jar holds about a pound of F&T HDT with nearly no space left between the top of the snuff and the lid, which is ideally what I aim for in order to minimize any negative effects resulting from the presence of oxygen. If you had your mason jar filled similarly, of course, than it could be some form of anaerobic life that wouldn’t really be solved by this method. I imagine Jaap should be able to weigh in on the subject if he reads this topic and provide an authoritive answer.
I use mason Jars without any problems at all.