Drucquer & Sons Rust

[haparnold]

I got an order from SPC in the mail today, and was very excited to open up a tin of Inns of Court. While jarring some of it, I noticed the seam of the can has a fair amount of what appears to be rust.
I checked some of my other C&D/GL Pease cans I have, and noticed the two-ounce tins don't have a seam in the can construction; they're a smooth corrugated cylinder. I guess this is just a structural fault of the can, but I was a bit surprised to see it, as the can was dated 10 June 2019.
I'll be calling smokingpipes tomorrow to see what they have to say about it. Please note the purpose of this post isn't to insinuate that they did anything wrong, it's mostly a PSA to encourage you to double-check your Drucquer cans, esp. if you were on the fence about jarring versus aging in the can.
And of course, some obligatory pictures. Sorry they're sideways:

 

[alaskanpiper]

gonna smoke it?

 

[haparnold]

gonna smoke it?

Not at the moment. It smells awful good, but I'm obviously a little leery. I know rust can be an issue with older examples of this style tin, but I thought that was resolved a few years ago, and I'm especially surprised to see it forming already in a can that hasn't even been tinned for three months yet.

 

[alaskanpiper]

Well thanks for the heads up. I have a couple tins of Levant that are older than that. I'll have to get the jars out and pop one to make sure.

 

[prairiedruid]

I don't think it's rust. I think the discoloration is from how they seal the edges of the sidewall of the can.

 

[haparnold]

Looks pretty rusty to me, esp. because close up it looks like the corrosion is 'growing' out from the seam. However, I wouldn't be surprised if it's not rust. If a problem like this were going to develop, I would have thought it would take longer than three months.

 

[scloyd]

Is the rust running along the sides of the seam? Not the tan color?

 

[haparnold]

No, the tan is what appears rusty to me. I'd be happy to find out this is just a byproduct of how the can is constructed, but it certainly makes me leery.

 

[zitotczito]

Darn, I have quite a few cans of various blends.

 

[balkisobrains]

It looks like the food-safe coating got discolored from heat when they welded the seam.

 

[jravenwood]

I opened a tin and it looked the same; for what its worth, the tobacco was fine, and I myself thought it was nothing more than discoloration from the heating of the seal, as others have said.

 

[seanv]

It is hard to tell from a photo but i don’t think that is rust. Send a pic to SP and see what they say

 

[unkleyoda]

I have a can of Blairegowire, looks the same. I assumed it was the coating got discolored from the weld.

 

[ben88]

That's not a rust.

 

[leacha]

The food safe coating is applied very sparingly so the seam process showed through. If it tastes fine go with it. If you're still worried, contact SP for a replacement. At least they are still around. I have some McClelland tins that the coating bubbled. No recourse for them. :x

 

[sablebrush52]

Funny, I've never seen any kind of discoloration like that on any actual tins of food that I've rinsed before recycling.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Even if there were some rust there, I'd smoke it. But I am no M.D. Nor researcher.

 

[haparnold]

Here's the very prompt reply I got from Nick Shane over at smokingpipes:

Thank you for getting a hold of us. We appreciate you sending over these pictures so we can get a better idea of the tin you received. After looking at the pictures we do not think that this discoloration is rust and is rather a discoloration due to the interaction with the acidity from the tobacco. Rust will form with an interaction between oxygen and moisture, and the cans are sealed air-tight creating an anaerobic environment which will prevent the formation of rust. I hope this information helps relieve your concerns about this discoloration being rust.

And now I'm very much looking forward to smoking some Inns of Court this evening!

 

[sablebrush52]

"Air tight" doesn't mean vacuum or a lack of oxygen. Presumably, all of the C&D tinned Pease tins that completely rotted through from the inside out were "air tight". But this is hardly a health enhancing habit, so rock on.

 

[haparnold]

Well yes, but that's sort of like riding a motorcycle with no helmet because motorcycling is inherently risky.
I accept the risk of smoking a pipe, but that doesn't mean I don't want to minimize it, or at least avoid unnecessarily increasing it.