Sulphite Sensitivity
With so many people suffering from a food intolerance or allergy, are we given enough information about what goes into preserving our food?
Sulphites/Sulfites are used in increasing amounts as a food preservative or enhancer.
Although not recognised as a 'true' allergy sulphites are still listed highly as a food allergen and could be responsible for that hangover you get before the night is over.
The chemicals known as sulphites are present naturally in a few foods but generally are added as preservatives to a wide range of foods, drinks, medicines and cosmetics. Sulphur dioxide is found in the air as a result of the burning of fossil fuels. 
Sulphites can cause symptoms in some people, either by acting as a 'chemical irritant' or because the person is hypersensitive to sulphites.
Asthma sufferers are particularly prone, particularly those with more severe asthma. The incidence of sulphite sensitivity in the general population is thought to be less than 2%, but this rises to between 5 and 13% in asthmatics.
One way in which ingested sulphites can trigger symptoms is that when they meet the acid in the stomach or mouth, sulphur dioxide gas is released. This can be inhaled, leading to irritation of the airways and wheezing.
However, sulphites can cause a variety of different symptoms in other ways; the mechanism for this is not understood.
Other symptoms that can be caused by sulphite hypersensitivity include rashes (including urticaria – nettlerash), itching skin, swelling of lips, eyes, mouth or throat (angioedema), burning mouth, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and (rarely) anaphylaxis.
The most common symptoms are wheezing (mainly in asthmatics) and skin symptoms, either from ingestion of sulphites, or skin contact with them from medications, cosmetics or at work or high levels of air pollution.
For more information visit: www.allergyuk.org