Sulphur dioxide is highly toxic, so why does red wine need to add sulphur dioxide? Wineries: legal compliance

I’m sure we’ve all had this experience: passing near a coal power plant when there is a choking “coal smell”, home burning briquettes can smell the pungent “soot smell”, play match cannonball can also feel the tearful “white smoke “.What is that, you ask? Adults would tell you that it was sulphur dioxide and to stay away from it!And we have the impression that sulphur dioxide is the main culprit of air pollution, one of the environmental indicators of every city is about sulphur dioxide levels, and every year there are negative news about sulphur dioxide.

Therefore, in our perception, sulphur dioxide is a very toxic substance.

But a chance encounter changed my perception of sulphur dioxide gas.

I still remember that when my cousin was a wine salesman, he returned home for the New Year at the end of the year and brought a few bottles of wine to our family.

Out of curiosity, I did not rush to open and drink, but carefully surveyed the red wine in front of you, do not see do not know, a look at a shock.

The bottle label is clearly marked “sulphur dioxide”, the question at the time is, this kind of red wine will not have an impact on the body to drink it!

I believe that many friends have had such questions: sulphur dioxide is clearly toxic, why red wine must add sulphur dioxide?

You know, red wine is a kind of food, to add poison to food, seems to be no different from poisoning!

As early as a long time ago, people have discussed the sulphur dioxide gas in red wine, but not everyone is a professional, the most natural interpretation of the right is the red winery, some red wineries say: legal compliance!

Such a statement is logically not wrong, after all, can appear on the market on a large scale, naturally legal and compliant. However, the answer was too perfunctory and still did not explain the problem clearly.

Later, the author by accident to learn the microbial fermentation profession, in contact with the knowledge of wine to understand that the previous concern is completely superfluous.

It turns out that the sulphur dioxide content in red wine is very small, the human body is not affected, which is the same reason as drinking, a small sip, no effect on the body, but excessive drinking certainly not.

And the addition of sulphur dioxide in red wine has its own scientific reasoning.

First of all, the biggest role of sulphur dioxide in red wine: anti-bacterial.

Before bottling red wine, winemakers will test the content of sulphur dioxide in wine, if the content is not enough, it will be supplemented with a certain amount of sulphur dioxide, the purpose is to prevent the growth of bacteria, contamination of the wine body, so as to ensure the stability of wine.

Secondly, it also has a key role to play: antioxidant.

Red wine is a fermented wine made from grapes, and compared to grain wine, fruit wine is more susceptible to oxidation.

In order to lock in this “beauty”, sulphur dioxide comes in handy.

At this point in time, sulphur dioxide has two roles: one is to deactivate the red wine oxidase; the second is to cut off the air, after all, red wine prefers air, sulphur dioxide in the middle of the role of a shield.

Finally, it has a trivial role to play: it increases acidity.

Sulphur dioxide is a gas that, when dissolved in water, turns into an acid that can increase the acidity of the raw material, thus making it easier for the pigments, phenolics and organic acids in the grapes themselves to dissolve, but this effect is less obvious and better than nothing.

In summary, sulphur dioxide has its advantages and disadvantages, the key lies in the amount of control, red wine with sulphur dioxide, the biggest role is to inhibit bacteria and corrosion, to enhance the stability of red wine body.

Of course, the winery is right, the addition of sulphur dioxide in red wine is indeed in line with food standards, so see the red wine ingredients marked with “sulphur dioxide” do not worry, drink before waking up on not too much of a problem.