Potassium Sulphite (E225): What It Is and Is It Safe?
Potassium sulphite is a sulphiting agent that releases sulfur dioxide to inhibit microbial growth and enzymatic browning. Sulphites can trigger asthma, bronchospasm, and other hypersensitivity reactions in sensitive people, and EU law requires sulphites to be declared as an allergen when present above 10 mg/kg expressed as SO2. EFSA's re-evaluation withdrew the sulphite acceptable daily intake in 2022 because the toxicity and genotoxicity data were inadequate, and it flagged margin-of-exposure concerns for high consumers. Potassium sulphite is not itself among the EU-authorised sulphites E220-E224 and E226-E228.
- Category
- Preservative / Antioxidant — Sulphite
- Typically used in
- Sulphiting agent for preserving foods and preventing browning; not among the EU-authorised sulphites.
- Regulatory status
- Not among the EU-authorised sulphites; sulphites require allergen labelling above 10 mg/kg.
- Concerns flagged
-
Possible allergenMigraine trigger
Scrannr flags Potassium Sulphite automatically when you scan a barcode.
Where this comes from
- EFSA (2022) — Follow-up of the re-evaluation of sulfur dioxide and sulfites as food additives https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/plain-language-summary/follow-re-evaluation-sulfur-dioxide-e-220-sodium-sulfite-e-221-sodium
Products containing Potassium Sulphite
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