Sulfites in Wine
by Andrew L. Waterhouse

Sulfites or sulfur dioxide is a fruit preservative widely used in dried fruits as well as wine. It is also produced by the human body at the level of about 1 gram per day. Consumption of food preserved with sulfites is generally not a problem except for a few people who are deficient in the natural enzyme to break it down. For these people, the additional sulfites from food can be a problem. There are reports of severe and life threatening reactions when sulfites were added at erroneously and enormously high levels (100 times what was supposed to be used!) on salad bar vegetables.

The levels in wine average 80 mg/liter, or about 10 mg in a typical glass of wine A number of studies show reactions by sensitive patients to drinking wine with sulfites, but it appears that their reactions are also caused by other components. For details on this issue see this review: A.T. Bakalinsky, Sulfites, Wine and Health, in Wine in Context: Nutrition, Physiology, Policy, A.L. Waterhouse and R.M. Rantz, Eds. American Society for Enology and Viticulture, Davis, 1996. (Publication List)

There are many erroneous ideas about sulfites, so to put the record straight:

  • All wines contain sulfites. Yeast naturally produce sulfites during fermentation so there is only a rare wine which contains none.
  • No other country requires a sulfte warning label, but virtually all winemakers add sulfites, including those in France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Chile, etc. So, the wine you drink in foreign countries contains sulfites, but you just are not being warned about it when purchased abroad.
  • There are a few (very few) winemakers who make wines without adding sulfites. In the US, organic wine must be made without added sulfites. These are unusual because the wine is very perishable and often have unusual aromas from the aldehydes that are normally bound and rended aroma-less by the sulftes. Look for these wines at natural food stores.
  • Sulfites do not cause headaches. There is something in red wine that causes headaches, but the cause has not yet been discovered. Refer to the Bakalinsky article above. (Many people seem to connect their headache with the sulfite warning label, but sorry there is no connection). To avoid headaches, try drinking less wine, and drink with food. If you think sulfites are causing your headache, try eating some orange colored dried apricots, and let me know if that induces a headache.
  • In the US, the law states that
    • Wines cannot contain more than 350 mg/liter sulfites
    • Wines with more than 10 mg/liter must have a "Contains Sulfites" warning label
    • Producers must show levels below 10 mg/liter by analysis to omit the label
    • Wines must have less than 1 mg/liter to have a label that says "No Sulfites"
    • This level must be shown by analysis
    • All wines must carry the label whether made in the US or abroad

Still want to get rid of sulfites? In theory, you can remove sulfites by adding hydrogen peroxide to your wine, but there is little specifically known about this treatment. I don't recommend it but I mention it only because I keep getting asked how to do this.

Every 5 years or so a M.D. asks me if I want to collaborate on wine headaches, but there is no funding for such research. So, if anyone wants to support a Master's student research project on the topic of wine headaches ($30K) we can start to investigate, and we will even test how to remove sulfites.


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