Why the ammonia smell in certain snus?

[snupy]

As long as it's not a worker peeing in the tobacco I'm good!

Why bring Offroad portions into the discussion?

[LaZeR]

As long as it's not a worker peeing in the tobacco I'm good!

Why bring Offroad portions into the discussion?

RIMSHOT!

[LinusSnus]

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.

[Snusmun]

Hi Linus,

Thanks for taking the time to post and chime in. Finally, a true professional!
Your explanation makes sense and explains why many people report a strong ammonia smell in very fresh snus and snuff. I'd assume then that stonger snus like sterks should have more ammonia smell, or is it independent of the nicotine content, but more to do with the acidity of the tobacco used? Bye the way, are sterks and extra sterks manufactured by using just more of the stem from tobacco leaves, or is there some nicotine extract added at some point during manufacture?

Again, thanks for posting, and welcome to snuson. I hope you will post regularly, as I'm sure your expertise will be of great value to the community.

[LaZeR]

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.....

Welcome and +1. Good post and information. Please keep us informed of this type of production techniques and what not. Very interesting. :wink:

[justintempler]

...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!)....

I make tiny batches by your standards and the ammonia makes my eyes water. 8)

Thanks for the post.