Pasteurized

[Speedoape]

Swedish Snus is pasteurized and American snuff or dip is fermented right? so thats what makes Swedish a bit more "safe"? on the Camel website it says

"Camel SNUS is pasteurized (a high-temperature sterilization process) rather than fermented (like moist snuff) so there is less salt in the blend, which means less moisture. Less moisture means that spitting isn’t necessary."
if this is the case, then the Camel snus is or could be considerd comparable to Swedish as a food grade "safe" alternative to smoking?
S

[c.nash]

Camel is "snus" by typical terms, but is no where near what real swedish snus is... And who knows what the hell is in that Camel shit.

Also, I believe there is MORE salt in snus than other moist snuffs and there is definitely probably just as much moisture in it, it is just a different type of drip that won't tear up your stomach like other moist snuffs will.

[WickedKitchen]

The first thing I noticed about Camel snus was that it didn't taste at all like tobacco. That, and the fact that they don't list the ingredients...Hmmmm. I do not believe that Camel snus is as big of a harm reducer as Swedish snus.

[snusjus]

Salt has nothing to do with the need to spit. The pasteurization process (as opposed to fermentation) removes irritants to the digestive tract. In matter of fact, dip and snus have approximately the same salt content. Most importantly, snus is placed in the upper lip, which is away from salivary glands; you can put dip in your upper lip and you won't need to spit as much.

[lxskllr]

All BS aside, I think Camel is probably as safe as Swedish snus. The problem is I can't prove it since they don't put the ingredients on the tin. I reject Camel primarily for the taste, but also because I don't quite trust them, and I'd rather go to the source anyway. American snus is like German ravioli. German ravioli may be fine, but why wouldn't you buy Italian if you had the choice?

[Speedoape]

On a more positive note! I just found on the General site there is a Speedy Stop 3 miles from my house that sells the General Snus! i called them and they have a full line of General!

[Darwin]

If you have easy access to General there is no reason short of a perverse preference for the taste of Camel to not use it. Camel is probably as safe as the real Swedish deal but since it tastes like bad candy and doesn't have enough nic to give a hamster a buzz it should be a last resort only. Marlboro "snus" is another matter and should be avoided at all costs. May the fleas of a thousand mangy hyenas infest Altria's product planning department heads.

[Ex Dipper]

I could be wrong but I thought I read somewhere some snus is fermented. Which I hope is not true.

[snusgetter]

I could be wrong but I thought I read somewhere some snus is fermented. Which I hope is not true.

Not sure, but this might answer your concerns:

Hi,

I stumbled onto this thread about Ammonia smell in Snus and I thought I would share some of my personal experience on the subject. As I work for a small manufacturer of snus, I have learned the "hard way" about Ammonia smells in Snus.

First of all, it is true that there is some naturally occurring ammonia in tobacco. However, unless the tobacco is treated, it is not merely enough to give a smell (try opening a tin of regular pipe tobacco).

Tobacco in its natural form has a low PH which depends on the type of tobacco. Some types are as low as ph4 and a few up to about ph6 (ph7 is what you typically have in your saliva). In the first stages of pasteurisation of tobacco we only add salt which raises the ph marginally (Salt is about ph7), but the tobacco is still sour.

A normal snus that you purchase on the market is at around 8% to 8.5%. So how do the manufacturers raise the PH? Well, this is done by adding something that is highly alcaline. Swedish manufacturers tend to add Sodium Carbonate (ph11) or Sodium bicarbonate (ph8.5 - Baking soda).

When you add the carbonate to the pasteurised snus, the ammonia explosion takes place. The more sour the tobacco and the more carbonate you add, the greater the effect. The absolute highest Ammonia smell will occur if you add the carbonate while the pasteurised tobacco is still hot (I assure you that if you stick your nose in the keg at this time, you will have a kick that will blow your head off!)

A tobacco leaf is made of stems (the vain) and lamina (the actual leaf). The vain is generally far stronger nicotine wise and also far more acidic (sour). So most normal strength snus uses mainly lamina. When doing this, the ammonia reaction is greatly reduced to the point of hardly being detectable.

Depending on the tobacco and carbonate, the smell of ammonia will reduce little by little over time. Some Snus types are perfectly ok after 2-3 days while others require up to 3 weeks of storage. Of course, manufacturers store their finished product at cold temperatures (4 degrees celcius) and if you smell a tin that is cold, you will not find so much of a smell. However, if you leave it at room temperature it will increase. This is because the warmer the temperature the greater the reaction. If you store your snus at room temperature, the Ammonia smell will reduce faster, but of unfortunately, so will the quality of your snus.

So I guess my advice is that if the ammonium smell bothers you, either stop sniffing the tin or switch to another brand.


Linus Snus is a small manufacturer of nicotine free and regular snus.

My question:
Anyone familiar with Linus Snus?