I've been meaning to type something like this for a while. I'm an analytical chemist at Swedish Match and I am very familiar with our processes in both Snus and American Dip.
On the main page, there's the link to "The Differences Between Snus and American Smokeless", which is a pretty decent explanation, albeit some of the information is incorrect. So I'm typing this as a clarification, and addition. Here goes:
Many people have asked this simple question, "what's the difference is between Swedish snus and American dip?" To Americans, they look similar, come in similar cans and both are used orally but that’s where the similarities end! To really understand the differences, we need to start with how they both are made.
American Dip, or Smokeless, is made from tobaccos that are strictly from U.S. grown tobaccos from places like North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia among othersNot always true, matter of fact that is mostly false. Most American dip is a blend of tobacco's from all over the world. A lot of companies say "100% American grown tobacco" or something on those lines. Some do say "50% Domestic/50% Imported Tobacco". Some do say "100% Domestic" or "100% US" so this is somewhat true. The word "American" is too vague because a lot of tobacco comes from Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America. All of these are considered "American". Copenhagen for instance is 100% American, but 70% US and 30% Brazilian. Swedish Match American Dip brands have tobacco from the US, Canada, Philippines, Italy, Argentina, etc. while Swedish snus uses a variety of different tobaccos from across the globe, including the U.S.! Although both go thru a similar, initial drying process, the American version adds another step here which makes it unique. Piles of sawdust, primarily from Oak or Hickory, are lit and allowed to smolder in the barn. This generates smoke that flavors the tobacco. After that, the smoked, dried tobacco is placed in barrels and allowed to ferment for up to 5 years to develop its character.Ferment here in this sentence is wrong. "Aged" is what should be there. Much like wine or cheese or bourbon, except in those cases the aging process happens after fermentation. Wine and cheese and bourbon are aged to mature the flavor components that are present. American Dip has the flavors added later. Fermentation is after the tobacco is cut & water and salt & other flavor components are added. Water is added to make the fermentation possible, and salt is added so that the fermentation is selective because a lot of microorganisms can't survive in high salinity. Those microbes are not wanted for the fermentation step and the salt will kill most of them. Some companies do moisten and then ferment whole leaves then dry them, then cut but that's not standard practice. That's more of a cigar leaf thing, like the Italian Toscano cigars. After that its cut, flavors and sweeteners are added and then it’s canned.
Swedish snus is processed much differently. Tobaccos from around the world, including the U.S. and Sweden, are chosen and bypass the smokingTraditionally, snus did use fire-cured tobacco. Swedish Match products since around 1980 have NO fire-cured tobacco. Instead they use air-cured and flue-cured tobacco, much like cigarettes, which are lower in TSNA's and other harmful constituents, because of the curing process. To compensate for the loss of the smoky flavors from fire-cured tobacco, artificial smoke flavors are added, which took years and years to perfect because most of those flavors are very fake tasting and smelling. I can't speak for any other snus manufacturers as far as their use of fire-cured tobacco, but Swedish Match snus products contain no fire-cured tobacco. and fermenting. These tobaccos are mixed and stored in a cool warehouse for about 2 years before they are ground together. The grinding process resembles the flour making process that grinds the grain between steel wheels. It’s then sifted and reground until the right consistency is achieved. After that, the ground tobacco is dried and moved into a steam chamber to cure"Cure" is not the right word here. The tobacco is already cured. A more accurate word is "Pasteurize". It's put in a steam chamber under pressure and heat to kill anything that's growing in it and, more importantly, to also kill spores that are present from spore-forming bacteria, which are the primary microbes that can reduce Nitrate to Nitrite. Nitrite plus Nicotine and other Nicotine alkaloids and amines = Nitrosamines. at a low temperature and then moved into flavoring vats. After that, it’s packaged and placed in a cool room for up to 2 weeks to allow the flavors to combine.
The major difference between Swedish snus and American dip is the safety factor. Swedish snus has a considerably lower amount of Tobacco Specific Nitrosamines (TSNA’s), which is a carcinogen, than American Dip. This is due to the omission of the smoking and fermentation steps that American Smokeless brands go thru and the low temperatures that Swedish snus is kept. That’s why Swedish snus is recommended to be stored in temperatures between 38 and 42 degrees Fahrenheit.Snus is refrigerated just to keep the flavor fresh. It has nothing to do with nitrosamine production. Because of the pasteurization step, an unopened can will not rise in nitrosamine content when not refrigerated because the microbes that aid that process aren't present. They are refrigerated because there are no preservatives present, although Propylene Glycol does have preservative properties in tobacco, and the refrigeration helps keep the flavor the way that it is supposed to be.
Thanks for reading, any questions, let me know.
Matt
On the main page, there's the link to "The Differences Between Snus and American Smokeless", which is a pretty decent explanation, albeit some of the information is incorrect. So I'm typing this as a clarification, and addition. Here goes:
Many people have asked this simple question, "what's the difference is between Swedish snus and American dip?" To Americans, they look similar, come in similar cans and both are used orally but that’s where the similarities end! To really understand the differences, we need to start with how they both are made.
American Dip, or Smokeless, is made from tobaccos that are strictly from U.S. grown tobaccos from places like North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia among othersNot always true, matter of fact that is mostly false. Most American dip is a blend of tobacco's from all over the world. A lot of companies say "100% American grown tobacco" or something on those lines. Some do say "50% Domestic/50% Imported Tobacco". Some do say "100% Domestic" or "100% US" so this is somewhat true. The word "American" is too vague because a lot of tobacco comes from Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America. All of these are considered "American". Copenhagen for instance is 100% American, but 70% US and 30% Brazilian. Swedish Match American Dip brands have tobacco from the US, Canada, Philippines, Italy, Argentina, etc. while Swedish snus uses a variety of different tobaccos from across the globe, including the U.S.! Although both go thru a similar, initial drying process, the American version adds another step here which makes it unique. Piles of sawdust, primarily from Oak or Hickory, are lit and allowed to smolder in the barn. This generates smoke that flavors the tobacco. After that, the smoked, dried tobacco is placed in barrels and allowed to ferment for up to 5 years to develop its character.Ferment here in this sentence is wrong. "Aged" is what should be there. Much like wine or cheese or bourbon, except in those cases the aging process happens after fermentation. Wine and cheese and bourbon are aged to mature the flavor components that are present. American Dip has the flavors added later. Fermentation is after the tobacco is cut & water and salt & other flavor components are added. Water is added to make the fermentation possible, and salt is added so that the fermentation is selective because a lot of microorganisms can't survive in high salinity. Those microbes are not wanted for the fermentation step and the salt will kill most of them. Some companies do moisten and then ferment whole leaves then dry them, then cut but that's not standard practice. That's more of a cigar leaf thing, like the Italian Toscano cigars. After that its cut, flavors and sweeteners are added and then it’s canned.
Swedish snus is processed much differently. Tobaccos from around the world, including the U.S. and Sweden, are chosen and bypass the smokingTraditionally, snus did use fire-cured tobacco. Swedish Match products since around 1980 have NO fire-cured tobacco. Instead they use air-cured and flue-cured tobacco, much like cigarettes, which are lower in TSNA's and other harmful constituents, because of the curing process. To compensate for the loss of the smoky flavors from fire-cured tobacco, artificial smoke flavors are added, which took years and years to perfect because most of those flavors are very fake tasting and smelling. I can't speak for any other snus manufacturers as far as their use of fire-cured tobacco, but Swedish Match snus products contain no fire-cured tobacco. and fermenting. These tobaccos are mixed and stored in a cool warehouse for about 2 years before they are ground together. The grinding process resembles the flour making process that grinds the grain between steel wheels. It’s then sifted and reground until the right consistency is achieved. After that, the ground tobacco is dried and moved into a steam chamber to cure"Cure" is not the right word here. The tobacco is already cured. A more accurate word is "Pasteurize". It's put in a steam chamber under pressure and heat to kill anything that's growing in it and, more importantly, to also kill spores that are present from spore-forming bacteria, which are the primary microbes that can reduce Nitrate to Nitrite. Nitrite plus Nicotine and other Nicotine alkaloids and amines = Nitrosamines. at a low temperature and then moved into flavoring vats. After that, it’s packaged and placed in a cool room for up to 2 weeks to allow the flavors to combine.
The major difference between Swedish snus and American dip is the safety factor. Swedish snus has a considerably lower amount of Tobacco Specific Nitrosamines (TSNA’s), which is a carcinogen, than American Dip. This is due to the omission of the smoking and fermentation steps that American Smokeless brands go thru and the low temperatures that Swedish snus is kept. That’s why Swedish snus is recommended to be stored in temperatures between 38 and 42 degrees Fahrenheit.Snus is refrigerated just to keep the flavor fresh. It has nothing to do with nitrosamine production. Because of the pasteurization step, an unopened can will not rise in nitrosamine content when not refrigerated because the microbes that aid that process aren't present. They are refrigerated because there are no preservatives present, although Propylene Glycol does have preservative properties in tobacco, and the refrigeration helps keep the flavor the way that it is supposed to be.
Thanks for reading, any questions, let me know.
Matt
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