Ozone Treatment May Reduce Wine Allergies

Filed in archive Allergy: Research and Development , Food Allergies on February 14, 2007

In wine making, sulfites are added as preservatives and cause allergic reaction in some people. Even organic wines, in which additional sulfites are not added, are not totally sulfite-free.

Spanish winemakers may have found an alternative to using sulfites and sulfur dioxides as preservatives: ozone treatment. It has been found to be 90% as effective as sulphur dioxide, which is currently used by producers.

In addition to being less likely to trigger allergies, ozone-treatment may even result to healthier wines, as the they also found that ozone-treated grapes had up to four times more antioxidants than untreated grapes. Antioxidants are compounds in wine that have been documented to reduce risks of strokes and aging related diseases. However, it should be noted that there are other allergy-causing compounds in wine, so ozone-treatment may not really be the ultimate solution for those with allergies to wine.

Read more from the BBC report.