The Sir Walter Scotts Fine Border Snuff I ordered from MrSnuff and the Abraxas Connoisseur Cerise I received in the SnuffCentral review contest has molded. I have taken 2 teaspoon sized amounts out of the jars to put in airtight plastic tubs for use because I did not want to keep opening the jars when I wanted some and it being expensive(for me) have used very little. I have not looked at the jars for a couple weeks and went to refill my tubs today and there was several clusters of mold on top of the snuffs and against the jars going to the bottom. The Abraxas had less mold but still the mold was not just in one spot. Has anyone else had problems with these snuffs molding? I keep all my snuff in a cabinet along with my cigar humidors and have no mold on my cigars. Any suggestions? Thank you Forgot to add. My Premium Fin and Cafe 11 are just fine.
@cigargod There have been many reports of mould in the SWS Creme de Figue and it has been withdrawn from sale. Apparently the problem ingredient has been identified so the next batch should not have that problem. I have a 15g jar here, and an unopened 50g jar, and have been monitoring them regularly and had thought I had been lucky but I just found a small patch of mould in the open jar which I have removed together with a large spoonful of the surrounding snuff and I will now be using that up in a hurry. There is no mould in the side or bottom of the unopened jar and I don’t want to open it to look at the top for fear of starting the mould process. However I do not recall having read any reports here regarding mould with any Abraxas product. Is it possible that you used the same spoon in both jars without cleaning it off? That might have led to cross-contamination. You can contact @Johnny - the producer of Creme de Figue - on this forum. Abraxas used to be here as well but has unfortunately left. I’m sure others will comment so does anyone have any opinions on the safety of the Creme de Figue that I have left after removing the mould? My intention - having caught the problem very early and removing the surrounding snuff - is just to carry on using it. With the pollution in London I am sure that far worse things go up my nose every time I breath.
Since Abraxas has left or not logged on for a while does anyone know how to contact him?
There may be users here who know him privately but your best bet would be to contact SnuffCentral as I believe that he supplied the prizes directly to them.
I suspect @Chris is right about cross-contamination - it is the most obvious explanation given what we know that the first batch of CdeF and the fact that there don’t seem to have been any reports at all about mould in Abraxas Cerise. As far as using the remaining snuff goes, I can’t see that the mould would do you any hard, although it doesn’t smell very nice! If it’s still pleasant to take then I should go for it. After all, stomach acids will eventually take care of anything that you don’t blow back out!
I can see the cross contamination thing, but I haven’t filled the tubs in the same week, and after the washing them in the dish washer it would have been luck of the draw if I just happened to use the same spoon out of my silverware draw. And the molds are slightly different shades of grey.
@Justin - Thanks for the advice. I took a good cream spoon sized portion of the snuff surrounding and behind the mould and threw that lot away. The remaining snuff in the jar smells like normal Creme de Figue and there are no other traces of mould but I will check it every few days. I have since taken several large pinches with no side effects so I think I caught it early enough.
@cigargod Abraxas still has an account here so if you PM him[http://snuffhouse.org/profile/352/Abraxas] it will show up in his Email as a notice from snuffhouse
@cigargod there were a couple of threads on this a few weeks ago. I don’t remember the names of the threads but you might search using also the British spelling “mould”. Johnny was made aware of the SWS issue and rectified it. There was a problem with one batch of Abraxas early on, I don’t remember which one. I think it was about a year ago. There is probably a thread on that as well. Nigel rectified the issue and replaced everyone affected’s snuff as I recall. So I don’t think its a case of cross contamination, these spores are airborne and will affect anything they can. Certain untreated tobaccos can get it. Some of the de Kralingse ones are also susceptible; I think the fermented Virginia varieties without salt. I think keeping them in a humidor is asking for trouble though; humidity will encourage mold growth. Best bet is to contact the vendor that sold them to you.
Hi folks I was alerted to this issue by Johnny, so a flying visit on the grounds of customer service. All abraxas products are heat treated to destroy mould spores and the jars they go into are sterilised. When they leave me they are as mould spore free as it is possible to make them. How has this happened? I don’t know, but I will be replacing the snuff as a matter of principle. @cigargod - please check your messages. My business email is abraxas@abraxassc.com should anyone need it. Logging out, best wishes folks Nigel
It is very encouraging to see. I am on another forum ( totally different products) and it’s a great place to hang out, and the manufacturers are know to lurk there for feedback and to poach ideas (known as customer feedback apparently 8-| ), but they seldom make an appearance to resolve issues or quell unease. Here on the other hand, I had a few issues with a retailer here, and these have all been amicably resolved - then I see this from Abraxas. It’s great to see the producers and suppliers mingling with the consumers :-bd
I have to agree that the customer support where snuff producers are concerned is absolutely first class. In my first post above in response to cigargod’s OP I mentioned that I had just discovered a small patch of mould in one of my jars of Creme de Figue. That post was at 20:46 and within an hour I was contacted by Johnny Scott! Having become used to the appalling service one receives from most UK companies I was almost stunned. I’d had no doubt that Johnny would respond to this thread but within an hour, at that time in the evening, is just remarkable. I think Johnny, Nigel and Roderick should be running the UK. Get Jaap Bes running the Netherlands and between the four of them I have little doubt they could sort out the EU as well.
@Chris if they were in charge they could tell the EU to do one lol. Stefan
I applaud both snuff makers in their responses to me and the replacement of the molded jars of snuff. If only 50% of all Company’s customers service stepped up to the plate and as quickly as these gentlemen have, this would be a much better world. My hat is off to you fine gentlemen.