Virtually once every week, a customer will ask about or comment about getting headaches from red wine due to the sulfites.

• Sulfites or sulfur dioxide are a non-metallic, naturally occuring, compound that has been used since ancient times as a cleanser and fruit preservative. Sulfites have antioxidant and anti-microbial properties that keep away bacteria and oxidation that could mess with the wine.
• Sulphur's use is to maintain the stability and potency of some medications and as a part of common compounds used to preserve a wide variety of foods and food products.
• Sulfur readily is digested by the human body and is one small component of fats, bodily fluids, and skeletal minerals and is essential to life itself.
• According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, approximately 1% of the population has some sensitivity to sulfur compounds and sulfites and about 5% of asthma sufferers can have adverse sulfite reactions.
• To avoid affixing a warning label on a bottle of wine sold in the United States the amount of sulphites present must be at or below 10 parts per million (ppm).
• The maximum legal limit for sulfites in wine in most countries is about 335-350 parts per million.
• In practice, the average amount of sulfites in bottled wine is between 20 and 50 ppm. This is a much lower level than virtually all sulfur-containing processed foods (see below) which may range from as little as 6 to 6,000 ppm. The maximum legal limit for sulfites in dried fruit, for example, is 2000 parts per million.
• There are no wines that are sulfite-free.

Research in the area of Red Wine Headache or RWH (an official syndrome) points to the fact that sulfites do not cause the headaches people experience after consuming red wine.

According to the information availabe, the headaches usually are caused by other naturally occurring substances, like histamines, which can also cause a stuffy nose and rosy cheeks.

I naddition, white wines, especially sweet whites, often have higher sulfite levels than red wines.

So, the next time you are with someone who complains about RWH and touts the headach-free afteraffect of white wine, recognize that the cause of the headaches may be something else in the red wine causing the problem.

I do recognoze that about 1% of the population dies suffer from some form of sulfite allergies that cause an allergic reaction (wheezing, hives, asthmatic responses), rather than headache.

All wines contain sulfites.

Sulfite are a natural byproduct of the fermentation process, however winemakers will also put in “added sulfites” on top of this, which is the controversial part.

While the United States requires a “contains sulfites” warning label, many countries do not. So even though a bottle of wine you purchase in a country outside the borders of the United Sates do not have a "warning label" that it contains added sulfites, it most likely does have the "usual" quanity of sulfites.

In the US, organic wine cannot be made with added sulfites. As mentioned in the Organic Section of this website. Although slowing changing, it is unusual for a winery to want to go organic, because lack of added sulfites makes the wine extremely perishable.

NOTE: Use of and measurement of Sulfites:

• The addition of sulfites are due to their being a wondeful preservative.
• In the production of wine, the addition of sulfites usually is in small amounts measured in " parts per million" (ppm).
• The legal limit in wine is 350 ppm.
• The range for most wine with added sulfites seems to vary between between 25 to 150 ppm.
• The 100 ppm level is the total sulfites measured at the time of final bottling and it is allowable to have naturally occurring sulfites in organic wine. Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) labeling requirements requires wine labels to list “contains sulfites” if they exceed 10 ppm.

There are no absolutes about why some people get headaches after drinking wine, especially red wine. The best advice I can give is to keep trying until you find wines that do cause the discomfort. I usually suggest trying wines produced 100% in stainless steel, or different varietes, or styles of wine. Or simply drink more water before, during and after the consumption of wine.

• Friut juices
• Dried fruits
• Fruit concentrates
• Syrups
• Sugar
• Jams
• Gelatins
• Cake toppings
• Baked goods
• Pizza dough
• Frozen and dehydrated potatoes
• Processed vegetables
• Cheeses
• many Prescription medications
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