Frequently Asked Question's
WHAT IS SNUFF ?
Snuff History
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» The indigenous populations of Brazil were the first people known to have used ground tobacco as snuff. They would grind the tobacco leaves using a mortar and pestle made of rosewood, where the tobacco would also acquire a delicate aroma of the wood. The resulting snuff was then stored airtight in ornate bone bottles or tubes to preserve its flavor for later consumption.
» Snuff-taking by the Taino and Carib people of the Lesser Antilles was observed by the Franciscan monk Friar Ramon PaneonColumbus' second voyage to the New World in 1493. Friar Pane's return to Spain with snuff signalled its arrival in Europe that would last for centuries.
» In the early 16th century, the Spanish Casa de Contratacion (House of Trade) established and held a trade monopoly in the first manufacturing industries of snuff, in the City of Seville, which became Europe's first manufacturing and development centre for snuff. The Spanish called snuff polvo or rape. At first they were independent production mills dispersed within the city, state control over the activity later concentrated the production to one location opposite the Church of San Pedro. By the mid-18th century it was decided to build a large and grand industrial building outside the city walls, and thus the Royal Tobacco Factory (Real Fabrica de Tabacos) was built, becoming Europe's first industrial tobacco factory, producing snuff and auctioning tobacco at first, and Spain's second largest building at the time.
» In India, we find many types of tobacco such as yellow, black & red. In Gujarat black color tobacco is mainly used.
» Charotar, Kheda and Vadodar districts of Gujarat (India) are chiefly growling tobacco.
» Production of "Tapkir" is the monopoly of Sihor, Sihor is know as snuff-City and it has many manufacture of snuff products.
» 150 years ago, the skill of preparing "Tapkir" was started by Barot Community. Gradually they become well known internationally.
» In this field Sihor become famous applying best quality and marketing skills.
» Some years ago or in past Tobacco powder was made by trashing its leaves but late on it was grinded and now electronic equipment are use to make Tobacco powder
Product of Tobacco are taking great care of their product form its grinding to its packing, in this process Modernization is observed.
» "Tapkir" production of Sihor has provided earning to five thousand people directly or indirectly. Government also gets some rupees in crores form excise duty of this product.
Facts
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» In 1561 Jean Nicot, the French ambassador in Lisbon, Portugal, who described tobacco's medicinal properties as a panacea in his writings, is credited with introducing ground tobacco snuff to the Royal Court of Catherine de' Medici to treat her persistent headaches. Catherine de' Medici was so impressed with its curative relieving properties, she promptly declared the tobacco would henceforth be termed Herba Regina (Queens' Herb), her royal seal of approval would help popularise snuff among the French nobility.
» The Dutch, who named the ground powdered tobacco "snuff" (snuif), were using the product by 1560.
» By the early 1600s, snuff had become an expensive luxury commodity. In 1611, commercially manufactured snuff made its way to North America by way of John Rolfe, the husband of Pocahontas, who introduced a sweeter Spanish variety of tobacco to North America. Though most of the colonists in America never fully accepted the English style of snuff use, American aristocrats used snuff.
» Snuff use in England increased in popularity after the Great Plague of London (1665�1666) as people believed snuff had valuable antiseptic properties, which added a powerful impetus to its consumption. By 1650, snuff use had spread from France to England, Scotland and Ireland, and throughout Europe, as well as Japan, China and Africa.
» Napoleon, Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Marie Antoinette, Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson and Benjamin Disraeli all used snuff, as well as numerous other notable persons. The taking of snuff helped to distinguish the elite members of society from the common populace, which generally smoked its tobacco.
HOW TO TAKE SNUFF ?
A WAY OF GIVING UP SMOKING
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» Users of smokeless tobacco products, including snuff, face no known cancer risk to the lungs.
» To date there have been no health suits filed against any of the UK's snuff manufacturers and, based on current knowledge, there is no evidence to suggest that nasal snuff causes cancer when used, as intended, nasally.
» Over-use can cause congestion but, unless an individual has a definite contra-indication, it would appear that the moderate use of nasal snuff is no more harmful perse than the moderate use of coffee or wine.
» As the primary harm from smoking comes from the smoke itself, snuff has been proposed as a way of reducing harm from tobacco.
» A study programme initiated in 1969 by the World Health Organization (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), titled "IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, Volume 89, Smokeless Tobacco and Some Tobacco-specific N-Nitrosamines", published in 2007 representing the views and expert opinions of the IARC Working Group concluded on snuff-taking and snuff tobacco that "Studies on nasal use of snuff did not provide conclusive evidence of a relationship with cancer."
» The study programme was also supported by the United States National Cancer Institute, the European Commission Directorate-General (Employment and Social Affairs) Health, Safety and Hygiene at Work Unit, and the United States National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.