Sulphites - allergic/intolerant/sensitive

purrr

purrr

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I recently discovered I am sulphite allergic/intolerant/sensitive. Ended up in the ER at 1am being injected with adrenaline, cortisone and antihistamine.

And I discovered it is widely used, from dried fruit, to droëwors to red wine to tortilla wraps and many many more.

So I have now switched to drinking organic red wine and local craft beer (nothing mass produced with a long shelf life). I now have to check the ingredients of everything and lots of stuff I can’t have anymore.

I have luckily found a product (thewinedrops.co.za - no connection) which you add a few drops per wine glass that eliminates the sulphites.

It has many forms so looking at ingredients can be tricky like (from Gemini):

Forms of Sulphites (Additive & Chemical Names)
    • Sulphur Dioxide (E220 / INS 220): A gas used extensively as a fumigant or preservative.
    • Sodium Sulphite (E221 / INS 221): A sodium salt used to prevent oxidation and browning.
    • Sodium Hydrogen Sulphite / Sodium Bisulphite (E222 / INS 222): Frequently used in fruit and vegetable processing.
    • Sodium Metabisulphite (E223 / INS 223): A common antioxidant and sterilizing agent used in winemaking and food preservation.
    • Potassium Metabisulphite (E224 / INS 224): Often paired with or used similarly to sodium metabisulphite in brewing and winemaking (part of Campden tablets).
    • Calcium Sulphite (E226): A firming and preserving agent.
    • Calcium Hydrogen Sulphite / Calcium Bisulphite (E227): Used in commercial food and beverage processing.
    • Potassium Hydrogen Sulphite / Potassium Bisulphite (E228): Acts as a preservative in various liquids and foods.

I am wondering who else has this problem and how they deal with it and what products they use. Especially interested in affordable enjoyable red wines. ;)
 
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purrr said:
I have luckily found a product (thewinedrops.co.za - no connection) which you add a few drops per wine glass that eliminates the sulphites.
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We bought this from Springfield wine estates in Robertson last.
Wow, that allergy totally sucks. Glad you got to the ER in time.

Do you have to carry an epi-pen with you now? How severe was it and what triggered it?
 
robinsonia said:
We bought this from Springfield wine estates in Robertson last.
Wow, that allergy totally sucks. Glad you got to the ER in time.

Do you have to carry an epi-pen with you now? How severe was it and what triggered it?
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No epi-pen but have an emergency stash of cortizone and antihistamine tablets.

I woke up at midnight with a severely swollen tongue, could hardly speak, luckily only half of the tongue was swollen so I could still breath. Argued with ChatGPT for 30 minutes that kept saying I should go to an ER. Eventually realised it’s not improving and drove to the ER where they injected adrenaline, cortisone and antihistamine. Took
30 minutes to start improving. Was coded orange. I could share a pic but might gross you out. ;)

Rather scary experience.
 
purrr said:
No epi-pen but have an emergency stash of cortizone and antihistamine tablets.

I woke up at midnight with a severely swollen tongue, could hardly speak, luckily only half of the tongue was swollen so I could still breath. Argued with ChatGPT for 30 minutes that kept saying I should go to an ER. Eventually realised it’s not improving and drove to the ER where they injected adrenaline, cortisone and antihistamine. Took
30 minutes to start improving. Was coded orange. I could share a pic but might gross you out. ;)

Rather scary experience.
Click to expand...
For sure, that can be scary. Interesting that they've opted for oral antihisthamines. I can't imagine swallowing can be easy if it happens again, but hopefully you get to catch it early. One thing I've heard is allergies can sometimes get exponentially worse after each bout. Maybe this kind isn't one of those though.
 
robinsonia said:
For sure, that can be scary. Interesting that they've opted for oral antihisthamines. I can't imagine swallowing can be easy if it happens again, but hopefully you get to catch it early. One thing I've heard is allergies can sometimes get exponentially worse after each bout. Maybe this kind isn't one of those though.
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It happened three times before but never that severe. I didn’t actually ask about the epi-pen so maybe I should.
 
purrr said:
It happened three times before but never that severe. I didn’t actually ask about the epi-pen so maybe I should.
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Only gotcha with the epi-pen is their life span and price so maybe it depends on how often it's happened or the likelihood of needing one? If onset is gradual it should be OK to avoid them.
 
There's sulphites in so many foods, I wonder why your allergy developed to become so severe?
 
airborne said:
There's sulphites in so many foods, I wonder why your allergy developed to become so severe?
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Don’t know but there is a decades long run up to this with the usual allergies.

We are also suspicious of two supplements I took, Viralguard (multi vitamins, herbs, probiotic, garlic) and Essentiale for liver health (soya based). Another BP tablet was also stopped. But the main suspect is sulphites.
 
airborne said:
There's sulphites in so many foods, I wonder why your allergy developed to become so severe?
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I wonder if it’s something that develops over time. As a youngster bee stings never caused me any issues but now I need to go to the doc for a shot. Similar with shellfish, never and issue until much later in life.
 
Unfortunately there is no sulphite allergy/sensitivity test.
 
PaulKempTheSecond said:
I wonder if it’s something that develops over time. As a youngster bee stings never caused me any issues but now I need to go to the doc for a shot. Similar with shellfish, never and issue until much later in life.
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Allergies definitely change. I used to have a terrible time with hay fever and a snot nose for most of my childhood and it cured itself by 90% by my 20s.
 
IMG_2421.jpeg

I was looking for Joey’s wors at my OK and it was mostly sold out. Checked out the four or so types of OK wors, huge list of ingredients including sulphur dioxide in bold on each one.

Checked the Joey’s wors ingredients yesterday and some items are not defined like spice and sauce.

Made contact with Joey’s and they said they buy the spice in and don’t know what it contains.

So now what?
 
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purrr said:
View attachment 1940267

I was looking for Joey’s wors at my OK and it was mostly sold out. Checked out the four or so types of OK wors, huge list of ingredients including sulphur dioxide in bold on each one.

Checked the Joey’s wors ingredients yesterday and some items are not defined like spice and sauce.

Made contact with Joey’s and they said they buy the spice in and don’t know what it contains.

So now what?
Click to expand...
Might have to spend a bit more on sausage. If you look for grass-fed meat online you might find a few places with sulphite free.

BEEF BOEREWORS (gluten-free) +/-500G – Familier

www.familier.co.za www.familier.co.za
 
saor said:
Might have to spend a bit more on sausage. If you look for grass-fed meat online you might find a few places with sulphite free.

BEEF BOEREWORS (gluten-free) +/-500G – Familier

www.familier.co.za www.familier.co.za
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I will contact them as there are also undefined ingredients, for example vinegar can have sulphites:

wine vinegar
spices
allspice

Edit: both my balsamic and wine vinegar have SO2.
 
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Also there is this loophole:

“The legal threshold to declare sulphur dioxide and sulphites on food product labels is 10 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) or 10 parts per million (ppm).”
 
I dont have any severe reactions more like an inflammatory/asthma issue with it so I avoid it where I can. I have other allergies and Ive had some reactions to unknown allergens where the doctors also just guessed and blamed preservatives so maybe get a proper test before you 100% blame it.

Wine also naturally contains it and they add more so while I like a good red wine I mostly give it a skip.
I also find if my diet and exercise is decent its less of an issue.
 
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