Why does Snus have an Expiration Date?

Why Do Swedish and some American Snus have an Expiration Date?

Swedish Snus’s are made and considered food products.  Like food products, some like milk will expire.  Some, like dried beans or pasta, can last forever.

It is very important that you check the expiration dates (sometimes called “best when used by” for marketing purposes, but expiration dates all the same) when buying your snus. They are clearly printed on the can.  Make sure none has expired and that you will finish the ones with earlier expiration dates in time.

When checking expiration dates, remember that Americans and Europeans express dates differently so don’t panic if the Swedish Snus you just received expired 6 months ago:  you are probably just reading the date incorrectly.

In Europe, the date is represented as DD/MM/YYYY while in America we use MM/DD/YYYY. The Swedish use a few other variations as well. Here are a few examples of how the expiration dates can be written:

16 09 2009 = 16th of September 2009
20091227 = 27th of December 2009
040208= 4th of February 2008
070108 = 7th of January 2008

American manufactured snus expiration dates should be expressed in the common MM/DD/YYYY format.  Especially with American Snus’s, check the expiration date before you leave the store.  We conducted a test on Camel SNUS in the Dallas area at local convenience stores. Without exception, the first can they handed us had already expired or was about to. The clerks would then, at our request, dig through the Camel SNUS refrigerator(s) and eventually find a can that had at least two weeks remain life.  Another SnusCENTRAL team member had the same experience with Triumph Snus in Ohio.

Depending where you buy it from (usually over the Internet), most Swedish Snus’s we’ve ever purchased had 2 to 4 months left before expiring.  There are two exceptions. One will sometimes be when ordering a “Bargain Bundle” or “Assortment Bundle” over the Internet.  Some of these have expiration dates of a month.

It’s still good though for you, though, because you are generally receiving a more expensive snus then you would have normally:  they would rather sell it at cost then risk having to throw it out in 30 days.  And since you can Freeze Swedish Snus,  take the ones you are not going to use right away that are within 30 days or less of expiring and freeze them!  In 6 months or a year or whenever you’re ready to use it, just defrost and you’ll still have the same amount of time to expiration left.

Swedish Snus is unique in that it can be frozen, like meat, for over a year and once defrosted, still be as fresh as the day you received it. It is advisable to place them and a freezer bag and squeeze out as much of the air as possible before freezing.  This will help retain the moisture.  Defrost in the refrigerator for one to two days before use.

I’ve received some outstanding bargains this way.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending how you look at it), the demand for Swedish Snus is increasing to the point where less and less of these “Bargain Bundles” are being offered since the snus is sold so quickly.

The other exception is a store that buys too much snus to get a better price and the clock keeps ticking.  Another tip-off of someone you don’t want to do business is, especially an Internet store, where snus is always on back-order or they state on the site that all products may not be in stock at all times.  This means they don’t do the volume to buy at a better price unless they save up their orders for one big one.  That means again, the clock is ticking.

If you are buying Swedish Snus over the Internet NOT in bargain bundles and find that you consistantly recieve snus with only 30-45 days before expiring, you consistently are shipped partial orders, or it takes much to long to receive your order, I would not recommend purchasing from them.

There are only two internet stores offering a full variety of brands and manufacturers I’m aware of that consistantly maintain a fresh stock and is always in stock to buy snus from.  The first obviously is the Snus Store at SnusCENTRAL.com.  I forget the name of the second one for some reason………but they’re excellent too.  Beware of others.

Snus’s that don’t have an expiration date mean they were not pasteurized in any manner, are dry or very low in moisture (Swedish Snus contains up to 50% moisture) and for all practical purposes, don’t really qualify to be called “snus”.  They don’t need to be refrigerated either.

The only practical use these so-called “snus’s” have is for storage in your bomb shelter along with other nonperishable items or for an Emergency/Disaster Kit.  And that’s only if you’re desperate and positive they have sufficient nicotine in them.  They could, in an Emergency/Distaster, also  be used to barter for something you do need with someone who never read this FAQ.  Otherwise, why bother?