Sulfite Sensitivity Can Trigger
Food Allergies To Asthma Attacks

Health Matters
Minutes Article
Jul 16, 2004

The most commonly reported problem with regard to sulfites is asthma. Other reported reactions cover a wide variety of symptoms - from hives, nausea and diarrhea to respiratory failure which can prove fatal. 

It needs to be noted that sulfur sensitivity can be acquired at any age. How to prevent sensitivity for occurring? Try to limit the amount of sulfur you ingest. Stay away from foods and wines you seem to react to.

Read the labels on all the foods you buy and avoid or minimize, for the most part, foods listed below both in restaurants and off the shelf.

What are sulfites?

Sulfites, or sulfiting agents, are sulfur-based substances used primarily as food preservatives. Six are used by the food industry: sulfur dioxide, sodium sulfite, sodium bisulfite, potassium bisulfite, sodium metabisulfite and potassium metabisulfite.

At one time, sulfites used to be sprayed onto raw vegies in salad bars and food markets to keep them fresh looking and from turning brown.

In 1986, the FDA banned sulfites for use on raw vegetables in both salad bars and food markets after dozens of people died from anaphylactic shock caused by the sulfur preservatives and today, salad bars are safe as well as the raw vegetables you buy at the market, but most of the rest of the food supply, regrettably, still contain sulfur preservatives. 

Sulfites and sulfur dioxide are widely used in wine, instant potatoes, French fries (when in a restaurant order a baked potato and be safe), pizza and lemon juice concentrate, and they are also hidden in hundreds of ingredients like corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup and gelatin which find their way into thousands of prepared foods. 

In addition, sulfites are still found in a variety of cooked and processed foods (including baked goods, condiments, dried and glacéed fruit, jam, gravy, dehydrated or pre-cut or peeled "fresh" potatoes, molasses, shrimp, and soup mixes) and beverages (such as beer, wine, hard cider, fruit and vegetable juices, and tea).

"The most rapid reactions occur when sulfites are sprayed onto foods or are present in a beverage, but the most severe reactions occur when sulfites are constituents of the food itself," says Ron Simon, M.D., head of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, Calif.

If you suffer from asthma, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, headache, heart arrhythmia, hives, irritable bowel, rosacea, swelling or other allergic symptoms perhaps you are allergic to these preservatives and you do not know it.

Pay attention to the foods you eat, and try through a process of elimination, to identify the foods that are causing these symptoms.

Even for us so called healthy ones who can tolerate sulfur preservatives, it's best to minimize the intake. Preservatives may be great in preserving the food you buy, but they are not great in preserving your body.

Preservatives cause free radical formation, just what you don't need!

To Your Good Health And Longevity!

Ira Marxe
CEO, Good Health Supplement

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