Microban in C&D Tobacco

[misterlowercase]

woodsroad,

what effect would sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate have?
I'm just curious, I'm totally clueless about such matters.
It sounds like you may have a firm grasp of these things, do you have a background in chemistry?
If so, any ideas about the bloom/plume on aged tobacco?

It's easy to refer to the stuff as "sugar crystals" because that's what they look like, and I myself use that term, but I suspect they're something else...I wish there could be concrete lab research about this esoteric topic, but there's little info to be found...
...could it be tartrates, somewhat similar to what happens with aged wine?
Any links or info about this "sugar crystal" topic is most appreciated!

 

[woodsroad]

I am not a chemist, and I don't play one on TV. I have some chem lab experience, I understand brewing chemistry from my years as a homebrewer, and my father was a clinical chemist and college pharm instructor , but that is the extent of my knowledge: an inch deep and a yard wide. I'm not someone to go to for definitive answers and explainations.
That said, I do know that:

Sodium benzoate inhibits (not eliminates) anaerobic bacterial fermentation.

Potassium sorbate inhibits yeast (and maybe mold?) reproduction. Not sure how. it is commonly used in the wine industry to stop fermentation.

 

[misterlowercase]

Many thanks for the explanation!
Another pipesmoking day, and another day something new learned!

:puffpipe:
Seems like I learn something new almost every single day!

 

[cortezattic]

Woodsroad, you started a really great thread! My cynicism notwithstanding, there have been some comments that resonate with me particularly well. Notably yours, and also those of namuna, misterlowercase, ssjones and auslander, in his call for listing additives (though I am more interested in listing constituent tobacco varieties.)

 

[mso489]

Burning anything produces benzo-a-pyrene, which is bad stuff, and burning many and various flavorings also

produces all kinds of extra products that are probably not beneficial. This may be a strong argument for

moderation in pipe smoking. For some, it may be an argument for not pipe smoking. If you smoke, fewer

additives are a plus.

 

[cigrmaster]

I used to smoke a ton of C&D blends, now I know why I grew a third testicle.

 

[piperl12]

Harris I gained an extra 1/2 inch so I bought the company :rofl:

 

[Perique]

Guys, I didn't mean t be flippant with my comment above. But let's put this in perspective. Do you, for example, eat chicken? Shall I tell you how your chickens are hatched, raised, slaughtered, and delivered to you? The chemicals involved (including some known carcinogens)? Don't get me wrong - I live on a natural farm and am probably on the top 1% of westerners when it comes to ridding my life of various chemicals and modern conveniences. We make our own soap, raise our own meat, spin our own yarn, grow our own vegetables, drink our own home-raised fresh milk, etc - the list goes on. I'm just suggesting you put this in perspective with the long list of chemicals you unknowingly ingest daily and not let it interfere too much with your piping pleasure

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I order all my C&D tobacco directly from the factory. I do this because I have them make up the tins especially for me and leave out the Microban.

 

[brian64]

But let's put this in perspective. Do you, for example, eat chicken? Shall I tell you how your chickens are hatched, raised, slaughtered, and delivered to you? The chemicals involved (including some known carcinogens)?

I'm just suggesting you put this in perspective with the long list of chemicals you unknowingly ingest daily

It just can’t be that bad, because if the general public was really exposed to high levels of toxins in their food we would be seeing epidemics of all manner of chronic diseases.
Oh...uh, wait a minute...on second thought, never mind.

 

[ssjones]

I'm sure C&D feels it is safe, or they wouldn't have mentioned it in their video. It is curious that they didn't reply to your inquiry. The Tarlers were at the Richmond show, that would have been an interesting question to have asked. Hopefully Russ O. can give his input.

 

[zack24]

I used to smoke a ton of C&D blends, now I know why I grew a third testicle.

Harris,nobody would notice...but jeez...in the middle of your forehead- it's hard to ignore that!!

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Actually I was just pulling your chain.

 

[cortezattic]

It's puzzling that blenders who want to make, for example, cherry flavored tobacco, case it or top it with something

that smells or tastes like cherries. What they should be doing is adding something that tastes like cherries after it

has been burnt -- which is an extension of namuna's point.

 

[brian64]

I used to smoke a ton of C&D blends, now I know why I grew a third testicle.

nobody would notice...but jeez...in the middle of your forehead- it's hard to ignore that!!

Damn...and all this time I thought pipe smoking was helping to open my third eye.

 

[woodsroad]

Damn...and all this time I thought pipe smoking was helping to open my third eye.

No, it's the Third Leg. And that's just an Old MILF's Tale.

 

[dragonslayer]

I'm a bit obsessed with the whole ageing and bacterial process when it comes to VA leaf. So I'm looking into this a bit more. I've sent a question about this to the engineering department that produces the product and having my daughter (bio-chemist) do a little looking into this chemical. From what I've read it can't be washed off and remains active. Hopefully this is all for not, but I do think that producers should list all the ingredients in their products, at the very least a simple URL with a breakdown. That's one little line on a package.
Craig

 

[misterlowercase]

Many thanks Craig, your efforts are much appreciated.
btw

Has your daughter ever looked into the "sugar crystal" phenomenon?

I'd be very interested in any concrete scientific analysis!

 

[woodsroad]

Someone with access to mass spectrometer could find some interesting things....

 

[glpease]

Seems to me his is how shitstorms and law suits get started. Much ado about misinformation...

.

Chris mentioned Mycoban, NOT Microban. They are not even close to the same thing, though the names sound similar.

.

Mycoban is a trade name for calcium propanoate (sometimes spelled propionate), a food grade fungistatic. It's in your bread, in your cheese, in your milk, in your grain, jams and jellies, frostings, other confections. It's effectiveness at low concentrations makes it an excellent mold inhibitor, preferred in most products over the equally common benzoates, which are effective in low concentrations only in acidic environments, and is listed as GRAS in laboratory tests. You can look up its MSDS for more information.

.

MicROban is something entirely different, having benzethonium chloride as its active ingredient. It's a broad-spectrum anitmicrobial that would certainly not be a good thing in tobacco.

.

So, basically every concern raised in this thread is irrelevant...