Question:
My question is regarding whether snus would be acceptable for use on Pesach without certification.
Snus refers to a small pouch of tobacco that one puts between their gums and lip. The standard ingredients are: tobacco, water, salt, propylene glycol, sodium carbonate, and “flavoring”. By weight, the flavoring represents a minute portion of the total ingredients.
Despite the flavoring, only a long-term user would actually say that a snus “tastes good”. Likewise, a tin of snus does not smell good, despite the flavoring – it gives off a musty tobacco smell. The flavoring is only intended to make the taste more palatable or more interesting, but the user fundamentally desires the tobacco and not the flavoring. Notably, liquid (tobacco juice) from a snus pouch sometimes drips out during use and enters the user’s mouth. This is typically swallowed because it is a very small amount, but this is done only for convenience sake, because the “juice” tastes quite bad. A snus pouch is typically discarded when this begins to occur.
For the user, abstaining from snus during Pesach would be detrimental to his oneg Yom Tov and Shabbos. As such, their intention is not to be machmir if there is sufficient room to be meikil.
Answer:
When it comes to kashrus on Passover things are quite stringent, because chometz is prohibited even if it is only a mute amount and would otherwise be botil, however for Pesach it is still not permitted. Additionally, the flavorings are there for flavor, and specifically put there for this purpose, so we can’t say, “I don’t like it”. Even though the main reason for taking the snus is for the tobacco, since the taste is there it is like medication that is flavored. It is considered eating the taste even though it is not the main purpose of what is being done. There fore the snus should have proper rabbinic certification.
Have a kosher Pesach
