When I opened it I found it had an unusual (for me) appearance on the upper lid. 

I wanted to post a photo of it but cannot seem to make that work.

So the inside of the lid is covered in what looks like wet snuff that has dried forming patches all over it. The patches are a couple of millimeters in size and have irregular edges.

Otherwise the contents look ok and smell ok. 

What am I looking at (if anything at all)?
Is it usable or should I get rid of it? 

It looks like the tin lid was slightly bent and may have compromised the contents, but I really don’t know. 
I won’t name names (not looking to have a go at anybody, just trying to understand) but suffice it to say this is a first for me, and as a relative newbie I don’t know if it is safe to use or not.

I would appreciate any thoughts on the subject and in the meantime I will try to figure out how to post a photo as I am sure this would be much clearer than my muddled explanation.

A photo would do wonders. Have you had this snuff before, if you have does it have an off or strange smell? What brand and type of snuff are we looking at? An artisan snuff? Is it Coarse or fine grind? High or none moisture?

Ok, well i sent this in a private message to the OP, but using http://file.army or http://supload.com are going to be much easier than uploading to here directly. ( plus you will earn some bitcoin, but I don’t want to get into that discussion again )

You can see this video where I explain how to do it exactly.

Inability to upload pictures usually happens due to image size (in mbs/kbs). Reduce the image file size to around 500 kb and it should upload just fine I guess.

It really depends on what the snuff is. I understand your desire not to point anybody out, but it would help tremendously to know what exactly you were talking about.

Hi folks thanks for the useful comments. 

@yisraeldov I took your advice and got one uploaded. Here is the link below. This should be better than my poor explanation.

@Amon no this is the first time I have ordered this brand and type.

As to naming names if the general consensus is after viewing the photo that the brand would assist then I am happy to put in brand and type.

https://file.army/i/z8yhB4

Here you go…

Looks like the top tin is starting to decompose or something and snuff is sticking to it. But the snuff looks good. I’d probably take a test toot and glass it and toss the tin. ?

Looks like maybe it sat for a while and the humectant rose to the top. Does the snuff up on top seem moister than the snuff at the bottom?

Watch out for old tins… some times you can get one from a shop that has had it on the shelves for years. And who knows how long it was on the distributer’s shelf before that.

Yeah, it looks like corrosion to me. I have thrown tins away for that. If there’s any metallic taste to the snuff, I’d probably discard it and put it down to experience/education.

Scrape some of it off and take a magnet to it. This should tell you if its rust or the snuff’s doing strange things.

that looks like corrosion and generally when that happens I say get rid of the tin and maybe the top layer of snuff and put the left over snuff in a new container. 

I would sent it to the company, mentioning the retailer and waiting for a replacement or at least,for an answer!

Thank you to all of you who have provided advice on the issue. It appears the consensus is to not use it. 

@Hitsuzen it seems to be consistent in moisture. I can’t detect any significant variation.

@Amon I tried the magnet and it didn’t affect the contents. What I did notice was that there was a strong musty smell when I scraped some of the contents off the lid. That suggests to me that it has spoiled. I didn’t notice it initially when taking the lid off as the snuff is fairly strongly scented.

@50ft_trad I think that on balance I will take your approach and I will play it safe by disposing of the tin and contents. 

@tobaccobob The bottom line for me is that the purchase cost was so low that the time and effort spent following up with the retailer will outweigh the value, although there is an argument for us as users to provide quality control. 

By way of update when I emptied the tin contents the whole tin is etched in the same way as the lid and there is a stronger musty smell. I think it is safe to conclude that the contents were spoiled by the quality of the tin used. I am of the view that the contents are mouldy. 

This was my first foray into a particular type of snuff and I am unlikely to go there again given this. I will stick to tried and true in future. 

I won’t be purchasing this type of snuff either!

So do the rest of us get to know which snuff and where from, or do other people have to buy rusty tins of contaminated snuff too?

Just pointing out that rust is not magnetic, the metal has bonded to oxygen and is therefore no longer affected by magnetism just like the iron in your blood.  So your magnet test doesn’t prove anything.

And it looks to me to be corrosion, if it were mold the snuff would have fuzzy mycelium growing all through it.

What Snuff? And a Email should be sent to the company concerning the quality of their tins. Maybe they can have tins rust treated with a coating. The salt content in the curing process may had been too high. And so, is a manufacturing defect. 

@Roderick, Thank you for your comments. I have contacted the retailer Snuff Store and advised them of the issue. They quickly gave me an account credit and accepted that there was an issue. I am very happy with their customer service. They advised they will follow up with the manufacturer.

In any event I have also emailed the manufacturer with a photo of the issue to ensure that they keep on top of their quality control issues. I will report back on what if any action they take with me. Thanks for that advice @basement_shaman.

@50ft_trad it concerns me greatly about outing a business when it might be a one-off issue. However I suspect whichever way I go on the issue of naming the brand or not I will take heat. 

Perhaps a sensible resolution would be for those with sufficient interest to PM me and I will respond that way. Then whatever you choose to do with the information is up to you.

I am open to any other advice on how to approach the matter. Feel free to chime in.

Name the snuff . 

@Snuffick I fully appreciate your position. Firstly, you have contacted both the seller and the producer, and made them aware of the issue. How they handle the rest of their stock is up to them, but I still think it’s important for the wider snuff community to be aware of the issue. Here’s why… Tins of snuff don’t just stay sealed on suppliers shelves, they sit sealed on mine too. At last count I had about 1.2kg of snuff in sealed tins, on top of all the other snuff I have transferred to glass jars. The priority for transfer to glass, are those snuffs which are prone to spoiling, or prone to rust corrosion. For example, Wilson’s Best Dark goes into glass immediately, as this will eat cans. Fantastic snuff, but it corrodes the tin. Conversely, Wilson’s SP’s are less likely to do this, so I’m happy to leave it in the can for a lot longer. Whatever this snuff is that you’ve had the problem with, I want to know what it is in case I have a tin still sealed. If so, I need to open it, check it, and get it transferred to glass before my tin starts rusting too. It’s an odd thing with snuff, but there have been many examples of the container being the downfall of the snuff. Weird isn’t it, the biodegradable organic matter would last longer if it wasn’t for the inorganic container failing the tests of time. The way that we snuffers can manage the situation, is knowledge. If we know a problem is likely to happen, we can work to prevent it. Yes, spilling the beans on a rogue tin of SnuffStore’s tin of Blend X by Mill Y might get somebody sulking, but is that really worse than letting everyone else’s snuff get ruined? If you’re still uncomfortable, let me know, and I’ll happily post it and take any flak for getting the info out there.

I demand a recall!

Oh my! No more jokes. I just thought about a snuffmaker who is no longer with us. God rest his soul.

@50ft_trad thanks for that fulsome explanation. On the back of it and several of the other responders in this thread who have answered in favour of me putting the name out there I will do so. I will bear the consequences of my actions. I do note that no one has directly spoken against me doing so in the thread and I take some heart from that. I hope that the good outweighs the bad.

The rogue snuff is 6 Photo Gold Rush. 

As a further update I received an email from the manufacturer thanking me for the information provided. I assume that they will undertake the necessary reviews of their stock. I appreciate the speed with which they responded to the email. It speaks of positive customer service. 

@Snuffick Thank you for the information. It’s not one that’s in my stash, but now others can be prompted to check theirs. Both Dave and 6P care about customer service and their public perception, so I’m sure they’ll take whatever additional steps they deem necessary, even if it’s just a quick external check of some tins to see if any others look affected. It’s good to hear both companies have responded positively to the issue thus far. Thanks again for bringing this issue to light.

All - Do you think the Indian snuffs in tins (like super kailash, kailash, motia, himtaj golden etc) will eat the tin from inside? Do you think a stock of these would need to be transferred to glass? It is a very time consuming and lengthy process and so I would ideally like to just tape the tins at the lid and keep the tins in an airtight or semi-airtight plastic case. Please advise. 

I’d like to add that I havent faced this issue at all until date, so just curious if I keep the tins for long storage (say, more than 2-4 years?)

I would say that you’re ideally placed to ask the mill. As far as I’m aware, this is the first issue on this particular snuff, so it’s entirely possible that it was just a one-off rogue tin. It also depends on your location, and how humid it is. Some Indian snuffs are slightly greased, which might even help delay it. That said, I think ALL snuffs benefit from being transferred to glass ASAP. I just don’t have enough glassware to do it, and have no plans to go buying load more jars for snuff that is now discontinued.

I m no expert on snuff storage but I have used quite a bit of Gold Rush and have about 30 tins stashed for post-TPD use . Many of them I got at Snuffstore I have not had a ‘shot’ tin like this yet so I d guess tin failure is rare but the nature of the snuff made me cautious about holding larger stocks .

I have noticed quite a few bent lids and used these first . I ve also noticed some variation in the snuff between tins , even in the same batch . Sometimes the snuff takes a long time to ‘wake up’ after opening . Moisture levels and colour can differ but they all end up in roughly the same place .

 I haven’t seen any corrosion in tins . In fact that level surprises me because I d assumed that the tins were greased with a paraffin wax before packing .

@sixphoto could possibly tell us more but I d guess it’s a production anomaly rather than a materials weakness . 

For the purposes of this thread , I ll take a tin out of each 8 pack that I have purchased from Mr Snuff and open them for immediate consumption . This is no chore because , at its best , Gold Rush is a delightful, hilarious snuff that I ll never tire of .

I guess I ll have to jar them longterm or freeze them shortterm . I wasn’t going to bother because  a 30g tin lasts me 7-10 days so my entire store will be gone before the realistic shelf life is up . 

@newbiesnuffer

I have a 4 year old tin of Kailash here that’s half used. The outside of the tin is showing it’s age but the inside is still perfect. The snuff is still good too for that matter.

Just to update . I decanted about 10 tins of my Snuffstore GoldRush into glass storage . Now the weather has warmed up my consumption of menthol snuffs has dropped sharply so I thought it worth the hassle .

I did not see any hint of corrosion in any of the tins . I have noticed that moisture levels in the snuff can vary wildly and the newer batch were quite wet …a trait I ve also noticed in other of the tin sixphotos .

I ve also had Gold Rush from other sources which had obviously been sitting on the shelf for a  fair old while 

I probably won’t bother doing the rest . If there’s a badun in there I ll find it soon enough :)