Sulphites are some of the oldest and most widespread preservatives in our food supply. They were used in Greek and Roman times in wine, but it was only in the 1880s that their use in as preservatives in meats was pioneered by Australian and South American beef producers wanting to ship their products to England. The use of sulphites in fruit and vegetables became common with the growth of the processed food industry in the twentieth century.
Sulphites destroy thiamine (Vitamin B1) so some experts recommend that foods which are a significant source of thiamine, such as meats, dairy foods and cereals should not be sulphited. In Australia, a number of pet cats and dogs have died from thiamine deficiency due to a steady diet of pet meat containing unlisted sulphites. Since sulphites cleave the thiamine molecule, thiamine in vitamin supplements can also be destroyed by sulphites. For this reason, in the USA there has been a total prohibition on the use of sulphites in meats since 1959, although sulphited meats such as sausages are still widely eaten in other English and Spanish speaking countries. Sulphites are also thought to destroy folic acid.
Sulphites have been associated with the full range of food intolerance symptoms including headaches, irritable bowel symptoms, behaviour disturbance and skin rashes but are best known for their effects on asthmatics since the well publicised 'salad bar' deaths of the 1970s and 80s when there were hundreds of reports of severe reactions and at least 12 asthmatics died from eating salads that had been sprayed with sulphites in restaurants. This use was banned in the USA in 1986, but a move by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1990 to prohibit the use of sulphites on frozen french fries was defeated on procedural grounds in a court battle with the potato industry.
At first sulphites were thought to affect only a small percentage of the population but in 1984, Australian researchers found that more than 65% of asthmatic children were sensitive to sulphites, and in 1999 the conservative World Health Organisation (WHO) revised upward their estimate of the number of sulphite-sensitive asthmatic children, from 4% to 20-30%.
On the recommendation of the WHO, food regulators have been working slowly to reduce the use of large amounts of sulphite preservatives in our foods. However, for children this reduction can be offset by increasing promotion of dried fruit as a healthy snack under new canteen guidelines prompted by the obesity epidemic. Since any dose of sulphites can be too much for asthmatics, individuals must learn how to avoid sulphites for themselves.
How to avoid sulphites
However, many of the sulphites you eat will be in unlabelled foods. When you look at the sulphite lists below, you can see why an additive-free low-salicylate diet works so well for sulphite-sensitive asthmatics. By avoiding processed foods and salicylates in fruit, fruit drinks, dried fruit, fruit flavoured breakfasts, cookies, snacks, muesli bars, yoghurt, icecream and confectionery, you are also getting rid of sulphites.
There is a big gap between reading sulphite lists and understanding whether the food you buy or a restaurant meal contains sulphites. The best way to find out which foods contain sulphites is to ask consumers who are particularly sulphite sensitive.
Liz, a sulphite-sensitive asthmatic from Australia, recommends avoiding sausages, all processed deli meats, cordials, jams, shop produced fruit salad, pickled anything with vinegar, shop bought hot chips, dried foods like apricots and 'anything that isn't natural'.
Rick Williams from the USA, who runs the Nosulfites website, suffers severe headaches from eating the smallest quantities of sulphites. The list of sulphites in US processed foods below gives an idea of the size of the problem. 'Current regulations discourage the use of large amounts of sulfites,' says Rick. 'Today, the problem is low levels of sulfur dioxide in practically everything you touch.' Sulphites under 10 ppm in the US do not have to be listed but they will all contribute to your sulphite intake.
A 1994 survey by Australian food regulators found sulphites in more than half the foods tested including such staples as bread and margarine, with sulphites higher in white bread than wholemeal.
If you look at ingredient listings of fast food companies, you will see that few of the ingredients have sulphites listed. This does not mean that the foods are sulphite-free. Small amounts of sulphites all add up, in processed food ingredients like corn syrup solids, cornstarch, maltodextrin, potato starch and flakes, beet sugar, bottled lemon juice used for flavouring and dressings, glucose syrup, the caramel colour used in cola drinks and sulphites in pizza crust. If the level of sulphites exceeds 10ppm it is required to be listed on the Ingredients panel, but often it is not.
The easiest way to avoid sulphites is to avoid all processed foods. The foods in failsafe shopping lists are sulphite-free except for some gluten-free flours with sulphite residues. Fresh fruit and vegetables are sulphite-free. Dried tree fruit such as apricots, peaches, apples and pears are mostly sulphited unless from specialty stores (see dangers of dried fruit factsheet) Dates, prunes, figs, sultanas and raisins may be sulphite-free but can contain extra high levels of salicylates. If you have done your elimination diet and challenges, and found that you react to only sulphites, you can add back the food chemicals which don't cause problems. This is the hard part - reintroducing foods without making mistakes. If your symptoms recur, you need to go back a few steps.
Sulphites in US foods
Eating out
For children in Australia, most social occasions are likely to involve sulphited sausages. You can ask your school to provide preservative-free sausages, or take your own (honestbeef Australia can courier-deliver frozen sausages, or check our Shopping List for butchers who will make preservative free sausages). Avoid fries and hot chips. Instant mashed potato and fruit cordials, used extensively in some day care centres because they are cheap, can be a source of sulphites for young children.
It is easiest to eat at a few places that you know well. Ask about ingredients. Plain foods like steak or grilled fish and jacket potatoes are safest. Avoid commercial soups, dips, sauces, gravies and dressings.
Liz suggests: "It is really trial and error. I stick to things that are as fresh and as natural as possible. Chinese and Thai food is okay for me especially if they use lots of veges and I always go where they don't use MSG. I avoid takeaway food as much as possible, as most pre-prepared foods have metabisulphite in them. If I must eat out, I choose salad on rolls or brown rye, and avoid dressings. I don't eat takeaway pizzas, preferring to make my own so I have control over what goes into them. Before ordering anything when out, ask what has gone into it. If there are any doubts, don't order it. You soon get to know what you can and can't eat."
Children's sulphite intake
Major sulphite sources for children include dried fruit, sausages, drinks and sometimes, hot chips or fries, see below for possible sulphite intake per serve.
Sulphites in minced meat
As part of the worldwide attempt by food regulators to reduce sulphite intake, in Australia and Europe sulphites have been banned in minced meat although not in sausages, some processed meats (such as devon or frankfurters) and burgers which contain a minimum of 4% cereal products (also called rissoles or patties). Some butchers choose not to comply with this regulation, since sulphites are a very effective preservative, maintaining or restoring the rich red colour of 'fresh' meat long after the meat has ceased to be fresh. A NSW food authority survey found 2003 found 56% of mince samples contained illegal sulphites. To be really sure that your mince is sulphite free, you must quiz your butcher thoroughly or test it yourself with sulphite test strips, available from us at cost.
Sulphites in potato products
Potato products are considered to be a major source of sulphites in the US. In Australia, whether frozen French fries are sulphited depends on which factory, not which brand, did the processing. A small survey of takeaway hot chips found that the majority of samples were sulphite free, but there is no way for consumers to know which ones are safe, and Australian asthmatics have reported reactions to takeaway hot chips (see story [443]). Dried mashed potato – used extensively in some childcare centres and some processed foods such as pies or chicken patties – is highly sulphited. The FDA website warns asthmatics: 'If you want to eat potatoes when out, order a baked potato rather than fries, hash browns, mashed potatoes or any dish that involves peeling the potato first. For a snack, potato crisps are safe, fries are not.
Wine without wheeze
Is it possible to make a decent sulphite-free wine? Former Australian Magazine wine writer Max Allen thought so. He devoted an entire column to a rave review of the 1999 Happs PF Red, 'a brilliant, young, dark purple colour, with good, bold, berry fruit and a spicy, direct whack of juicy current flavour in the mouth'. Since then Happs have also introduced a PF white, see the Happs website for stockists and others in our Shopping List. Note that preservative-free wine is not suitable for salicylate responders and many not be suitable for extra sensitive sulphite responders. Stick to your gin and tonic, whisky and soda or vodka.
Exceeding the limit
Sulphites in processed foods and drinks sometimes massively exceed legal limits. In 2003, bottles of Australian Creston Bay Brand Cabernet Shiraz red wine were withdrawn from sale by the Lidl European supermarket chain when sulphur dioxide was found at up to 17 times the permitted level. Authorities commented, "This amount could trigger an attack in a person with asthma who uncorks a bottle and inhales the smell without even tasting the wine."
Sulphite regulations
Who's watching?
In Australia, sulphites are not permitted on fresh fish. One mother reported 'we know if a food contains sulphites because my son has trouble breathing within a minute of eating it. Most fish is OK but occasionally he reacts'. Prawns always contain sulphites to preserve colour. The maximum permitted level is 30 ppm, but how well is it monitored? One seafood worker explained how they use 'metta' (sodium metabisulphite, 223). It is a white powder sprinkled over sackfuls of fresh prawns by people wearing rubber gloves. Some prawns must have higher readings than others.
While we were testing recipes, my husband noticed that there were no sulphites listed on the brand of glucose syrup available in our supermarket. Since one of his first jobs as a food scientist involved monitoring sulphite levels in glucose syrup, he contacted the company. They assured him they were using up old labels and would list it on the new labels. We watched with interest. It was three years before sulphites appeared on those labels.
The rise and fall of sulphites
In developing countries such as India and Indonesia where traditional foods are additive free, the childhood asthma rate is about 2 per cent, although it rises with the introduction of the Western diet. In Australia, the rate of childhood asthma rose from about 10 per cent in the 1970s to about 30 per cent today. There are now signs that the increase in asthma rates in developed countries may have peaked. Asthma experts are unable to explain these changes; however, we suggest that the asthma rate corresponds with additive consumption levels, especially sulphites, in processed foods, which increased during the last two decades of the twentieth century, and are stabilising now that food regulators are finally taking monitoring, surveillance and labeling of sulphites more seriously. If sulphites are slowly phased out according to WHO recommendations, we can expect childhood asthma rates to drop, but in the meantime, asthmatics need to know about sulphites.
What you can do
The FDA warns that sulphite-sensitive asthmatics should never assume a food is safe to eat:
"It takes some doing, but you can take steps to minimize your contact with sulfites if you are diagnosed with asthma or sulfite sensitivity … But you may not even know you have a problem with sulfites until a reaction occurs. Undiagnosed people are at risk because even if they know that sulfites can cause adverse reactions, they often don't associate sulfites with their own health problems." – FDA consumer safety officer Dr JoAnn Ziyad
Article Source: this article is using content fedup.com.au in THIS LINK
Sulphites destroy thiamine (Vitamin B1) so some experts recommend that foods which are a significant source of thiamine, such as meats, dairy foods and cereals should not be sulphited. In Australia, a number of pet cats and dogs have died from thiamine deficiency due to a steady diet of pet meat containing unlisted sulphites. Since sulphites cleave the thiamine molecule, thiamine in vitamin supplements can also be destroyed by sulphites. For this reason, in the USA there has been a total prohibition on the use of sulphites in meats since 1959, although sulphited meats such as sausages are still widely eaten in other English and Spanish speaking countries. Sulphites are also thought to destroy folic acid.
Sulphites have been associated with the full range of food intolerance symptoms including headaches, irritable bowel symptoms, behaviour disturbance and skin rashes but are best known for their effects on asthmatics since the well publicised 'salad bar' deaths of the 1970s and 80s when there were hundreds of reports of severe reactions and at least 12 asthmatics died from eating salads that had been sprayed with sulphites in restaurants. This use was banned in the USA in 1986, but a move by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1990 to prohibit the use of sulphites on frozen french fries was defeated on procedural grounds in a court battle with the potato industry.
At first sulphites were thought to affect only a small percentage of the population but in 1984, Australian researchers found that more than 65% of asthmatic children were sensitive to sulphites, and in 1999 the conservative World Health Organisation (WHO) revised upward their estimate of the number of sulphite-sensitive asthmatic children, from 4% to 20-30%.
On the recommendation of the WHO, food regulators have been working slowly to reduce the use of large amounts of sulphite preservatives in our foods. However, for children this reduction can be offset by increasing promotion of dried fruit as a healthy snack under new canteen guidelines prompted by the obesity epidemic. Since any dose of sulphites can be too much for asthmatics, individuals must learn how to avoid sulphites for themselves.
How to avoid sulphites
However, many of the sulphites you eat will be in unlabelled foods. When you look at the sulphite lists below, you can see why an additive-free low-salicylate diet works so well for sulphite-sensitive asthmatics. By avoiding processed foods and salicylates in fruit, fruit drinks, dried fruit, fruit flavoured breakfasts, cookies, snacks, muesli bars, yoghurt, icecream and confectionery, you are also getting rid of sulphites.
There is a big gap between reading sulphite lists and understanding whether the food you buy or a restaurant meal contains sulphites. The best way to find out which foods contain sulphites is to ask consumers who are particularly sulphite sensitive.
Liz, a sulphite-sensitive asthmatic from Australia, recommends avoiding sausages, all processed deli meats, cordials, jams, shop produced fruit salad, pickled anything with vinegar, shop bought hot chips, dried foods like apricots and 'anything that isn't natural'.
Rick Williams from the USA, who runs the Nosulfites website, suffers severe headaches from eating the smallest quantities of sulphites. The list of sulphites in US processed foods below gives an idea of the size of the problem. 'Current regulations discourage the use of large amounts of sulfites,' says Rick. 'Today, the problem is low levels of sulfur dioxide in practically everything you touch.' Sulphites under 10 ppm in the US do not have to be listed but they will all contribute to your sulphite intake.
A 1994 survey by Australian food regulators found sulphites in more than half the foods tested including such staples as bread and margarine, with sulphites higher in white bread than wholemeal.
If you look at ingredient listings of fast food companies, you will see that few of the ingredients have sulphites listed. This does not mean that the foods are sulphite-free. Small amounts of sulphites all add up, in processed food ingredients like corn syrup solids, cornstarch, maltodextrin, potato starch and flakes, beet sugar, bottled lemon juice used for flavouring and dressings, glucose syrup, the caramel colour used in cola drinks and sulphites in pizza crust. If the level of sulphites exceeds 10ppm it is required to be listed on the Ingredients panel, but often it is not.
The easiest way to avoid sulphites is to avoid all processed foods. The foods in failsafe shopping lists are sulphite-free except for some gluten-free flours with sulphite residues. Fresh fruit and vegetables are sulphite-free. Dried tree fruit such as apricots, peaches, apples and pears are mostly sulphited unless from specialty stores (see dangers of dried fruit factsheet) Dates, prunes, figs, sultanas and raisins may be sulphite-free but can contain extra high levels of salicylates. If you have done your elimination diet and challenges, and found that you react to only sulphites, you can add back the food chemicals which don't cause problems. This is the hard part - reintroducing foods without making mistakes. If your symptoms recur, you need to go back a few steps.
Sulphites in US foods
- Alcoholic beverages Wine, beer cocktail mixes, wine coolers
- Baked goods Cookies, crackers, mixes with dried fruit or vegetables, pie crust, pizza crust, flour tortillas
- Beverage bases Dried citrus fruit beverage mixes
- Condiments and relishes Horseradish, onion and pickle relishes, pickles, olives, salad dressing mixes, wine vinegar
- Confections and frostings Brown, raw, powdered or white sugar derived from sugar beet
- Dairy product analogues Filled milk (skim milk enriched with vegetable oils)
- Fish and shellfish Canned clams; fresh, frozen, canned or dried shrimps; frozen lobster, scallops, dried cod
- Fresh fruit and vegetables Banned except for fresh pre-cut potatoes and sulphur dioxide used as a fungicide on grapes
- Processed fruits Canned, bottled or frozen fruit juices (including lemon, lime, grape, apple); dried fruit;
- Processed fruits (cont) canned, bottled or frozen dietetic fruit or fruit juices; maraschino cherries, glazed fruit
- Processed vegetables Vegetable juices; canned vegetables (including potatoes); pickled vegetables (including sauerkraut, cauliflower, and peppers);
- Processed vegetables (cont) dried vegetables; instant mashed potatoes; frozen potatoes; potato salad
- Gelatins, puddings, fillings Fruit fillings, flavoured and unflavoured gelatin, pectin, jelling agents
- Grain products and pasta Cornstarch, modified food starch, spinach pasta, gravies, hominy, breading, batters, noodle/rice mixes
- Jams and jellies Jams and jellies
- Nuts and nut products Shredded coconut
- Plant protein products Soy protein products
- Snack foods Dried fruits snacks, trail mixes, filled crackers
- Soup and soup mixes Canned soups, dried soup mixes
- Sweet sauces, toppings Corn syrup, maple syrup, fruit toppings, high-fructose corn syrup, pancake syrup, molasses
- and syrups
- Tea Instant tea, liquid tea concentrates
Eating out
For children in Australia, most social occasions are likely to involve sulphited sausages. You can ask your school to provide preservative-free sausages, or take your own (honestbeef Australia can courier-deliver frozen sausages, or check our Shopping List for butchers who will make preservative free sausages). Avoid fries and hot chips. Instant mashed potato and fruit cordials, used extensively in some day care centres because they are cheap, can be a source of sulphites for young children.
It is easiest to eat at a few places that you know well. Ask about ingredients. Plain foods like steak or grilled fish and jacket potatoes are safest. Avoid commercial soups, dips, sauces, gravies and dressings.
Liz suggests: "It is really trial and error. I stick to things that are as fresh and as natural as possible. Chinese and Thai food is okay for me especially if they use lots of veges and I always go where they don't use MSG. I avoid takeaway food as much as possible, as most pre-prepared foods have metabisulphite in them. If I must eat out, I choose salad on rolls or brown rye, and avoid dressings. I don't eat takeaway pizzas, preferring to make my own so I have control over what goes into them. Before ordering anything when out, ask what has gone into it. If there are any doubts, don't order it. You soon get to know what you can and can't eat."
Children's sulphite intake
Major sulphite sources for children include dried fruit, sausages, drinks and sometimes, hot chips or fries, see below for possible sulphite intake per serve.
- dried fruit 16 mg in one dried apricot
- sausages 8 mg in half a thin sausage
- drinks 5 mg in one glass of cordial
- hot chips 1 mg in half a cup of hot chips
Sulphites in minced meat
As part of the worldwide attempt by food regulators to reduce sulphite intake, in Australia and Europe sulphites have been banned in minced meat although not in sausages, some processed meats (such as devon or frankfurters) and burgers which contain a minimum of 4% cereal products (also called rissoles or patties). Some butchers choose not to comply with this regulation, since sulphites are a very effective preservative, maintaining or restoring the rich red colour of 'fresh' meat long after the meat has ceased to be fresh. A NSW food authority survey found 2003 found 56% of mince samples contained illegal sulphites. To be really sure that your mince is sulphite free, you must quiz your butcher thoroughly or test it yourself with sulphite test strips, available from us at cost.
Sulphites in potato products
Potato products are considered to be a major source of sulphites in the US. In Australia, whether frozen French fries are sulphited depends on which factory, not which brand, did the processing. A small survey of takeaway hot chips found that the majority of samples were sulphite free, but there is no way for consumers to know which ones are safe, and Australian asthmatics have reported reactions to takeaway hot chips (see story [443]). Dried mashed potato – used extensively in some childcare centres and some processed foods such as pies or chicken patties – is highly sulphited. The FDA website warns asthmatics: 'If you want to eat potatoes when out, order a baked potato rather than fries, hash browns, mashed potatoes or any dish that involves peeling the potato first. For a snack, potato crisps are safe, fries are not.
Wine without wheeze
Is it possible to make a decent sulphite-free wine? Former Australian Magazine wine writer Max Allen thought so. He devoted an entire column to a rave review of the 1999 Happs PF Red, 'a brilliant, young, dark purple colour, with good, bold, berry fruit and a spicy, direct whack of juicy current flavour in the mouth'. Since then Happs have also introduced a PF white, see the Happs website for stockists and others in our Shopping List. Note that preservative-free wine is not suitable for salicylate responders and many not be suitable for extra sensitive sulphite responders. Stick to your gin and tonic, whisky and soda or vodka.
Exceeding the limit
Sulphites in processed foods and drinks sometimes massively exceed legal limits. In 2003, bottles of Australian Creston Bay Brand Cabernet Shiraz red wine were withdrawn from sale by the Lidl European supermarket chain when sulphur dioxide was found at up to 17 times the permitted level. Authorities commented, "This amount could trigger an attack in a person with asthma who uncorks a bottle and inhales the smell without even tasting the wine."
Sulphite regulations
Who's watching?
In Australia, sulphites are not permitted on fresh fish. One mother reported 'we know if a food contains sulphites because my son has trouble breathing within a minute of eating it. Most fish is OK but occasionally he reacts'. Prawns always contain sulphites to preserve colour. The maximum permitted level is 30 ppm, but how well is it monitored? One seafood worker explained how they use 'metta' (sodium metabisulphite, 223). It is a white powder sprinkled over sackfuls of fresh prawns by people wearing rubber gloves. Some prawns must have higher readings than others.
While we were testing recipes, my husband noticed that there were no sulphites listed on the brand of glucose syrup available in our supermarket. Since one of his first jobs as a food scientist involved monitoring sulphite levels in glucose syrup, he contacted the company. They assured him they were using up old labels and would list it on the new labels. We watched with interest. It was three years before sulphites appeared on those labels.
The rise and fall of sulphites
In developing countries such as India and Indonesia where traditional foods are additive free, the childhood asthma rate is about 2 per cent, although it rises with the introduction of the Western diet. In Australia, the rate of childhood asthma rose from about 10 per cent in the 1970s to about 30 per cent today. There are now signs that the increase in asthma rates in developed countries may have peaked. Asthma experts are unable to explain these changes; however, we suggest that the asthma rate corresponds with additive consumption levels, especially sulphites, in processed foods, which increased during the last two decades of the twentieth century, and are stabilising now that food regulators are finally taking monitoring, surveillance and labeling of sulphites more seriously. If sulphites are slowly phased out according to WHO recommendations, we can expect childhood asthma rates to drop, but in the meantime, asthmatics need to know about sulphites.
What you can do
The FDA warns that sulphite-sensitive asthmatics should never assume a food is safe to eat:
- If the food is packaged, read the label.
- If food is not packaged, eg sausages or deli meat, check ingredients with the manager.
- When eating out, check ingredients with the waiter or manager. Avoid foods listed above.
- Always carry your asthma medication when eating out.
- If you have ever had a severe reaction to sulphites, carry injectable adrenaline with you.
"It takes some doing, but you can take steps to minimize your contact with sulfites if you are diagnosed with asthma or sulfite sensitivity … But you may not even know you have a problem with sulfites until a reaction occurs. Undiagnosed people are at risk because even if they know that sulfites can cause adverse reactions, they often don't associate sulfites with their own health problems." – FDA consumer safety officer Dr JoAnn Ziyad
Article Source: this article is using content fedup.com.au in THIS LINK
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