HOW DO SULFITES GET INTO WINE AND ARE THEY HARMFUL?
The sulfite information label on wine bottles is mandated by federal law. The disclosure is designed to inform people who may be allergic to sulfites, a very small portion of the population, that wine contains this substance. If a person is intensely allergic to sulfites or suffers from severe asthma, an allergic reaction to sulfites could be life-threatening. In general, the amount of sulfites required to cause such a reaction is in the range of 200-250 ppm (parts per million). The usual concentration of sulfites in wine is approximately 20-30 ppm. Although a few people are presumed to have died from ingesting sulfites contained in foods, no documented cases of death due to ingestion of sulfites in wine exist. Most of the serious allergic reactions have occurred from ingesting foods that have much higher concentrations of sulfites, such as food in salad bars treated with sulfite-containing solutions to prevent oxidation (i.e. browning). Sulfites occur in wines from two sources. First,
