Sulfites
This page explains what Sulfites is, where it shows up in restaurant food, and which ingredient reports connect to it.
- Concern
- Moderate Concern
- Function
- Preservative (antioxidant)
- Updated
- 2026-02-26
What this is
Sulfites are a group of preservative compounds (including sulfur dioxide and related “sulfite” salts) added to foods to prevent discoloration and spoilage. For instance, dried fruit and some potato products may be treated with sulfites to keep their color. These additives are safe for most people, but they can provoke severe allergy-like reactions (especially asthma symptoms) in a small sensitive minority of consumers. Because of this risk, the FDA prohibits using sulfites on fresh produce intended to be served raw (since 1986) and requires labels to disclose sulfite preservatives in foods that contain detectable levels above ~10 ppm.
Critical Endpoints
The key endpoints experts review in safety assessments (critical endpoints). This is not a prediction of harm.
Restaurant Usage
6 linked ingredient reports
State Actions
0 current actions
No current state action is listed for this ingredient in the policy tracker.