When friends and family gather together, many people will choose to drink wine. If you are careful, you may find that most wine bottles have the word "sulfur dioxide" on the label. Talking about sulfur dioxide, everyone's first association must be "acid rain", "air pollutants", how can it appear in wine? Let's find out.

The role of sulfur dioxide in wine

Sulfur dioxide is a widely used food additive, commonly used as bleach, preservative, and antioxidant. Sulfur dioxide in wine is also used as a food additive. Of course, because of the process, sulfur dioxide is not necessarily added in the form of gas, it can also be its equivalent derivatives - various sulfites, pyrosulfites, bisulfite and so on. They can perform a similar function to sulfur dioxide, which is still used in calculating their usage.

Sulfur dioxide has been added to wine for hundreds of years. Reasonable and appropriate use of sulfur dioxide, can have a positive impact on the quality of wine, can effectively prevent wine deterioration, acid, color change. The main functions include:

(1) Kill the bacteria on the surface of raw grapes.

(2) Control the degree of fermentation and retain the sugar in the wine.

(3) Use its reductiveness to prevent oxidative deterioration of polyphenols, tannins and other substances in wine and acid oxidation of ethanol.

(4) Stabilize the color of the wine.

Small amounts of sulfur dioxide occur naturally in wine making, even without human additions. But it needs to be added artificially to make it work. Therefore, according to the labeling requirements of food additives in the "General Rules for Pre-Packaged Food Labeling of the National Standard for Food Safety" (GB 7718-2011), it is necessary to clearly identify it in the ingredient list.

Countries around the world have different regulations on the maximum amount of sulfur dioxide used in different types of wine. China's newly released on February 8, 2024 (implemented on February 8, 2025) "Food Safety National Standards for the Use of Food additives" (GB 2760-2024) clearly stipulates: The maximum amount of SO2 used in wine (measured by SO2 residue) is 0.25g/L, and the maximum amount of SO2 used in sweet wine (measured by SO2 residue) is 0.4g/L.

Is sulfur dioxide in wine safe to drink?

There is no denying that excessive sulfur dioxide will cause certain harm to human health. However, moderate drinking of wine that meets the national standard added dose, the intake of sulfur dioxide will not exceed the safety standard. Compared to the health risks of excessive drinking, there is no need to worry too much about the health hazards of sulfur dioxide. Once again remind everyone, do not drink too much!