From: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!CAD:tektronix!zehntel!sytek!menlo70!hao!hplabs!hpda!fortune!norskog
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Title: Sulphites in food preparation - (nf)
Article-I.D.: fortune.850
Posted: Sat Mar 19 20:02:22 1983
Received: Thu Mar 24 23:07:16 1983

#N:fortune:2700004:000:685
fortune!norskog    Mar 19 19:11:00 1983

The chemicals in question are sulfites, not sulphides. 
Sodium and potassiom sulfite are used in wine and beer making.
When dissolved in water, they break down into sulphur dioxide,
which kills bacteria in wine,  
and an acid very common in foods. (I forget the name.)
The sufites do not linger for more than an hour, they can't hurt you.
Sulphur dioxide has been the sterilant of choice for centuries;  
it was usually produced by burning sulphur.

The use of these sulfites in salad bars should be banned;
a vitamin C solution is a very good anti-oxidant, anyway.

				Lance Norskog
				Fortune Systems
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