My Chemical Romance
Debunking the great sulfite myth.
Words by Jillian Riley, art by John Hatherly
A few months again, I found myself (once again) ravaging the internet about an ingredient-- Sodium Benzoate. I was about to purchase a moisturizer from a line of “natural” skincare products. I have long been a nut about ingredients in my food and skincare products. Sodium benzoate had been touted for a long time as an innocuous form of preservation for these products. However, on this particular day I was thinking about the name’s similarity with benzene. Gasp. “Was this a form of benzene, a known carcinogen?” I began scouring the internet and quickly found an abundance of reputable sources informing me that sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid (AKA vitamin C) together become benzene. vitamin C was something I slathered on my skin, along with loads of conscientious people each day. Holy sh*t! Were all of us attempting due diligence with our facial products for all these years actually poisoning ourselves? I quickly reached for my phone to contact my brother, a med student who works in a lab at a cancer hospital. He said a lot, but the crux was, “Calm the F down.” He informed me biochemistry works differently, and an acid and a base reaction would be heavily pH dependent. This conversation got me thinking about, well, how much I didn’t know.
No wonder the worlds of food and wine and skincare are so difficult to navigate; the internet is so devoid of reliable answers. I literally had to ask a scientist. We’ve all learned the hard way we can’t just trust the establishment. It was only a few years ago, we found out that the Johnson & Johnson products our parents lovingly lathered us in contained formaldehyde, and the company knew it. Oh, and the metal in our Teen Spirit? Carcinogen. Formaldehyde in Brazilian Blowout? Carcinogen. Parabens in loads of self care products? Carcinogen. Benzene in decaf coffee? Carcinogen. The list goes on and on. Ultimately, the establishment has failed the consumer. The government organizations established to keep us safe seem to be falling down on the job. In fact, when it comes to beauty products, only color additives go through FDA approval. Companies can load in whatever else they like, and it will never meet the eyes of a government organization.
Given the betrayal consumers have experienced, it’s no wonder we are skeptical. If you have a job, perhaps a child, or maybe just want to feed yourself three square meals a day and maintain relative sanity, you don’t have time to turn all Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory, scour the internet, freak out, and call your scientist brother over every darn ingredient you’ve never heard of. The result is we’ve scapegoated a few key ingredients to bear the load of skepticism. Why these ingredients? Well, who knows? Maybe there was one article in People magazine that Jean in Arizona read, and she called her sister in North Carolina, and before you know it, there’s dang sulfite pandemonium. However we got here, as a sommelier who has worked in restaurants for over 10 years and talks to a lot of other sommeliers and winemakers, I can tell you, we are at sulfite pandemonium Defcon 3.
Do You Have a Sulfite Allergy / Sensitivity?
This is a real thing, and it’s totally lousy for people who have it, but if you feel tired, have a headache, or wake up hungover, it isn’t caused by sulfites. An allergic person exposed to sulfites will have asthma-like symptoms. It is possible to be sensitive to sulfites, but again, the sulfites will induce, similar, but more mild symptoms. No symptoms of headache or fatigue have been linked to sulfites. A serving of dried fruits typically contains more sulfites than a glass of wine. If you can eat a handful of dried apricots without reaction, you do not have a sulfite sensitivity.
How Much is Too Much?
Sulfites are in almost every wine, even if the product doesn’t say so. Wines containing less than 10 ppm of sulfur dioxide are not required to indicate that they contain sulfites. While addition of sulfites is a very common practice, some production of sulfur dioxide occurs naturally in the wine-making process. The maximum legal limit of sulfites in the US is 350 ppm. That leaves quite a large window for variance among winemakers and for different types of wine. As much as it would be great to have a certain number to watch out for, it simply isn’t that simple. The quantity of sulfur needed can depend on the vintage, the style of wine, and when it is meant to be consumed.
Can Organic Wine Contain Sulfites?
Kinda, sorta. Wine labeled USDA organic can’t have added sulfites, but permits the small quantity of naturally occurring sulfites. Wine labeled “made with organic grapes” may contain up to 100 ppm of sulfites. Some winemakers who actually use only organic grapes decline labeling as such because they want the freedom to work with the quantity of SO2 they feel each individual wine needs.
What do Sulfites Do to Wine?
Do you have a few years and desire to become a winemaker? Much like my question about sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid, there isn’t a quick answer. The clearest most blunt answer is that they preserve the wine by helping to prevent oxidation, but there are a number of other variables at play. Studies have suggested sulfites do affect the flavor to some extent. When they are added and how they are added can play a key role in highlighting certain flavors and smells in a wine. And. . . get this. . . those smells and flavors are attributed to naturally-occurring chemicals, themselves. More on that later.
But, Should We Be Interfering with the Natural Processes of Winemaking?
Agriculture, by definition, includes a human element. If wine shouldn’t be tampered with at all, just left to do its thing, how do we get the grapes off the vine? How do we get the juice into the bottle? Are we against wine that has been aged in oak, because certainly that is a human additive?
To really discuss the idea of whether we should or shouldn’t be adding chemicals to wine, we have to realize that our wine and food is filled with chemicals, which sounds super scary at first, but I’m not actually talking about the regrettable cheesy gordita crunches a lot of us consumed in our teens; I’m talking about real, whole, farmer’s market, “natural,” foods.
The word chemical has become frightening because the detrimental ones have been misused by giant agricultural conglomerates and winemaking juggernauts who could care less about the quality of juice going into the bottle, but the proverbial baby has been dumped with the H2O here.
We are surrounded by chemicals and chemical compounds-- water, salt, iron, vitamin C. Most of what we consume are just chains of chemicals, even if they came straight out of the ground from an organic farm.
There are lots of chemicals that are made as a natural part of fermentation with wine. One of these is acetaldehyde. Small amounts of this chemical are also produced naturally in our gut when we digest. If left to run amuck, the compound can produce unpleasant aromas (think gasoline). Winemaker Fred Scherrer refers more artfully to these aromas as “noise.” He explained this “noise” can actually cover up the natural expression of terroir and other natural aromas we find in the wine. Scherrer favors using appropriate amounts of SO2 in an effort to actually let the natural flavors and aromas of a wine shine through. Without SO2, there is a perfect breeding ground for not only acetaldehyde, but other bacteria to run rampant. If you’ve ever tasted a wine that smelled like a mouse crawled into your glass and died, you know what I’m talking about. The bacteria causing this smell and flavor is also chemical.
What’s in a Name?
Because we have been duped on a number of occasions, many of us have become accustomed to thinking of chemicals as bad, but really, many are probably just misunderstood. Dihydrogen oxide sounds pretty freakin’ scary, until you remind yourself that it’s water. Yep, water at its core is a chemical compound, just like pretty much everything. In fact, a hoax has been floating around the internet for over 20 years about the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide. There was an uproar about H2O fear until everyone realized it was actually water. Here’s a reframing of some of our favorite everyday chemicals and chemical compounds:
NaCl or Sodium Chloride: Table salt. When was the last time you made a meal without adding a little sodium chloride? Your vegetables may have even been organic of from a local farm.
Acetic Acid or vinegar: Mmmmmm. My life would be sadder with balsamic.
CaCO3 or chalk: What would our sidewalks be without it?
C6H8O7 or citric acid: Lemonade outta lemons.
C6H8O6 or vitamin C: Think OJ, not the pop artist circa 2000.
So, next time you take a sip of wine, embrace the chemical romance, and relax knowing the sulfites aren’t gonna doom you.
If you want to read more about some of the topics in this article or fact check me, take a look at these articles and sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccr0j8-7agA
https://www.businessinsider.com/dangerous-chemicals-in-beauty-products-makeup-list-2019-6
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/11323-sulfite-sensitivity
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/6/10/18650601/natural-wine-sulfites-organic