Did You Know Sulphites Hide in Dried Fruit?

That bright golden dried apricot is usually preserved with sulphites, a common skin and asthma trigger. How to spot sulphited dried fruit, and the easy swap.

The quick version

Sulphites (E220 to E228) are used to stop dried fruit browning and to keep its colour bright. That is why shop dried apricots are vivid orange rather than the dull brown of unsulphured ones. For sulphite-sensitive people, a handful of dried fruit can be enough to bring on flushing, hives or itching.

Why it matters

Dried fruit feels like a “healthy” snack, so it is an easy trigger to overlook. The visual giveaway is genuinely useful: bright, jewel-coloured dried fruit usually means sulphites; darker, duller fruit is usually unsulphured.

What to do

Look for “unsulphured” on the pack, choose the darker-looking dried fruit, or swap to fresh fruit. Check the label for sulphur dioxide or E220 to E228. And if you are asthmatic, take any wheeze after sulphites seriously, not just the skin reaction.

A short video clip on this is coming soon.

Check it against your own list

A free database like Open Food Facts and Fig give broad ingredient information rather than a check against your own skin. A personal-list app like ClearaScan lets you save sulphites once and scan any product, food, medication or cosmetic, against your ingredient guard list, flagging only yours. Its Reaction Journal lets you tie a flare back to the product, a shared Care Circle lets family scan for you, and a Trusted Products list keeps what you have cleared. It is currently in early access. (Disclosure: our editor co-founded ClearaScan, and we are not paid to mention the others.)