Debris in mass produced pouch tobacco?

[Blackbeard's Delight]

Seems like lately I seem to find bits of debris in pouches of tobacco I buy, usually Half & Half, sometimes in Carter Hall. It's like stem/twig pieces... sometimes it's clearly a big chunk o' tobacco leaf that can be crumbled back into the bag. Though sometimes it just seems a bit too stick-like.

I've only been pipe smoking since spring, and just recently I have been noticing this. So either I just didn't know any better and smoked everything in the pouch, or it's a new development.

Is this a common thing? Or should I not worry and smoke it all? Just curious what the pipe veterans here think...

 

[COHunter]

I find the occasional twig in almost any tobacco that's a ribbon or loose leaf type of cut. I think all it really amounts to is bits of stem that may have gotten mixed into the batch. I usually just pluck it out and toss it, then light up the bowl and enjoy. I have found a couple bits the hard way when they "popcorn" the bowl and blow some tobacco out of the top of the pipe!
I wouldn't fret at all about it.

 

[Blackbeard's Delight]

Oh wow, I have never had the popcorn effect... I will definitely try to avoid that. I am pretty sure my MM Hardwood pipe would flower open like the guns in the old Bugs Bunny cartoons and leave my face all black except for my blinking eyes!

I guess I'll keep picking out anything that looks stem-like or branch-like, and if it looks like a big hunk o' leaf I'll break it apart. I wasn't sure how normal/common this was.