Have you ever wondered why some dried fruit looks weird?
Check out these organic apples – they are brown!
But, you know what? These are the best type to eat.
Most dried fruit contains the preservative sulphur dioxide (number 220) which gives dried fruit its bright colours. It is also used to stop the fruit from going mouldy.
Dried fruit seems like a harmless snack to feed our kids and a great natural sweetener in baking, but eating too much 220 can cause lots of problems.
“In Australia, dried fruit can contain extremely high amounts of sulphites – 3,000 parts per million (ppm) compared to 2,000 ppm in the UK, and far higher per serve than any other food consumed by children. To put that into perspective, the Acceptable Daily Intake of sulphite for a 10-year-old weighing 21kg is just 15mg of sulphite per day. That is ONE dried apricot.” The Food Intolerance Network.
The Chemical Maze Handbook (which I suggest everyone should get), puts a big 🙁 on 220. They say its potential effects are ‘asthma, destroys Vitamin B1 and is recommended to avoid.’
Tanya from the Additive Free Pantry says “220 is known to cause development delay, diarrhoea, nausea, swelling, destroys vitamin B1, anaphylaxis, bronchitis, stomach upset while also prohibited in foods for infants. Sulphur dioxide can be fatal to an asthmatic. This is the simple reason we do not consume 220. Not worth it!”
So how do you avoid sulphur dioxide?
Read labels, read labels, read labels!
Don’t buy anything that says sulphur dioxide, preservative 220 or 221,222, 223, 224, 225.
Choose organic where you can – it shouldn’t have additives and preservatives.
These organic dried apples pictured, have 100% organic apples and they look brown – so brightly coloured fruit should send warning signals to you! Sulphur dioxide-free apricots look brown, not orange! I think they taste much better, too!
Of course, drying your own dried fruit with a dehydrator is a great way to ensure you know exactly what’s in your dried fruit too.
And then there’s sunflower oil!
I only recently became wary of sunflower oil too. It is in a lot of dried fruit like sultanas, to keep them from sticking together.
So, is your dried fruit safe? Is this something that worries you?
Click here to shop at Bulk Whole Foods.
Yip, I dehydrate my own…. or buy organic, additive free varieties 🙂 Scary though, huh? Great info!
thanks Lou… can you dry some for me… I never seem to get time!
which reminds me, get out of here and slice up that beetroot and sweet potato and put in my u-beaut dehydrator, cool here in Adelaide today so no excuse
I’m always learning something new from you Sonia. I was aware that sulphites and certain preservatives are nasty, but had no idea that it is present in such large amounts in dried fruit. Damn!
I know !! It sucks so bad that it’s allowed to be in our food, harming our kids !!!
Do you know any brands of readily available Australian sulphur-free organic dried apricots? I only seem to be able to find Turkish ones.
sorry Clare, I don’t, we eat the Turkish ones occasionally 🙂
There are a few orchards around (including us) that produce Australian organic dried apricots – best bet is to look them up on line.
brilliant!! leave us your details – I will check it out !! Do you do bulk prices for co-ops?
Thanks for the post. I bought my husband a dehydrator for Christmas (he loves jerky) and it has been going round the clock! Our only trouble is sourcing cheap fruit, any suggestions there?
make friends with a farmer? or try your local farmer’s markets…
grow your own 🙂
I’m in Melbourne, and planted a dwarf peach tree 2 years ago, and this year we must have about 40 peaches about ready to pick right now 🙂
yum!
My husband and I both have food intolerances and sulfur dioxide is one of them. It is hidden in lots of processed foods. I always read labels, buy organic where possible and eat mainly fresh food rather than processed. It really worried me how food and products now contain so many additives and chemicals.
it is very worrying Amber… .I particularly worry about kids who eat mostly processed food with no fresh fruit and veges to counteract 🙁
Yep, we have a dehydrator and dry our own fruit. Apart from Sultanas which we buy organic, oil free. They can be hard to find sometimes, but are worth it as they taste sooo much better without the oil!
the organic ones are so yummy!!
i get mine from 2brothers.com and always available, postage is very very cheap so i usually get a great big box of stuff when i order
thanks Wendy 🙂
Hi there, a great article, especially at the start of the year for those of us thinking about lunches and snacks for our children. I did have a query for you, a bit of a side product away from dried fruit, but for us ‘over 18’s’, should we then try and avoid wines with the 220 preservative? I really love reading your articles, thank you!!
well…. I would if you had sensitivities to it… and depends on how much you have!! 😉
Great article! I used to always get stomach cramps and bloating after eating dried fruit. Once I swapped to the organic varieties without preservative 220, I was fine! The preservative free ones do look a bit funny but they taste just the same and are much better for you!
I think they taste nicer … very rich in flavour 🙂
Have you seen the difference between organic and non organic Turkish apricots? It’s a joke! Great post x
I know.. fluro orange! bizzaro when you think about it coz real apricots are not that orange!
Wonderful post! This should be on those current affairs programs because everyone needs to know about this. I really feel for our little people who are being fed foods which will adversely impact on them later in life and often because parents just aren’t aware. Thank you Sonia for helping spread the word.
thanks Silvana…. it seems like it’s up to us Mums and Dads who care about our kids to spread the word!!!
Did you know that the Organic Turkish Apricots (and other imported goods) are fumigated with Methyl Bromide by the AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Services) in Australia. I found this out many years ago from a girlfriend that worked at AQIS when I worked in the Organic Industry.
Methyl Bromide whilst most dangerous when workers are exposed to the vapours during fumigation, there are links with environmental concerns such as ozone depletion. Still in my mind, it is probably best avoided as it can inhibit enzyme reactions in the body, reduce white blood cells and damage neurons and the nervous system. Another reason to buy Australian grown produce. Here’s the Australian Government link…not much information there really though.
http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/import/general-info/pre-border/afas/methyl-bromide-questions-and-answers
omg!!! thanks Jo… I didn’t know this at all and not sure how they can get away with it… the system sucks!
Imported garlic is also bromide treated, beware…
what on earth??? bet not many folks know that bit of info, that is really bad
scary hey?
Oh WOW, thanks for all the info Sonia! I had no idea, I always avoid 220 and similar and also the dreaded 282 in bread but didn’t know all the facts that you have shared. You’re a great source of info…….thank you for sharing! xx 🙂
thanks for stopping by Linzi – there is so much more to it than we think….
This is a great post Sonia – isn’t it true…we still have to check our ‘healthy’ food is healthy!
that’s right…. we need to be ever vigilant it seems!
I knew to avoid supermarket dried apricots, but was eating the apple rings from our local wholefoods store – until I read the ingredients on the big tub.. 220 arghh! I was given a much anticipated food dehydrator for Christmas, and have been having lots of fun since – apple and pineapple are our favourites, but we also like strawberries, cherries and bananas. I was painstakingly peeling the apples, until inspiration struck too – the apple slinky was pulled out of the cupboard and now I have cored and peeled apples in one step – and they’re all the same thickness so dry evenly too!
ooh good tip thanks Natalie!
I only buy australian fruit and vegies. I don’t like the idea of good food being irradiated or sprayed with added chemicals. I recently heard on the radio, from a farmers discussion meeting, that Australian farmers are thinking about irradiating their produce as a way to reduce pests. How will we know what is safe to eat anymore ? There is not much available in the farmers markets near here, and I worry about growing much of my own due to the pesticides in the air from the coal mines all around here.
Thanks for your timely article. It has made me rethink what I give my kids in their lunchbox.
Awesome! I am sure little bits don’t hurt, but a lot of kids do eat a lot of dried fruit!
It is now! We eat a lot of dried fruit as I use it to sweeten home made muesli, cakes, biscuits and cous cous. Unfortunately I have thrown out all the packets because I store all my pantry things in containers. Hmmmmm will def. be reading the labels next time!
Oh Carly!! Hope it wasn’t too much expense!! 🙁
Gee whiz! Thanks for the info Sonia.
I have quite a few friends who wont let their kids eat anything with numbers.
I don;t have a dehydrator but wil definately look more at the numbers on the back, sad that even basic food has to be so carefully checked!
I know… you would think that fruit would be okay!
Any advice on where to buy a dehydrator and any recommened brands…I’m extremely sensitive to the preservatives or artificial sweeteners in dried fruit…would much prefer to make my own 🙂
I am so glad I read this as I have been giving my children dried apricots and sultanas not realizing how bad they are. My daughter gets bad tummy pains after dried apricots and prunes so we had stopped these, but I had no idea sultanas were so bad if including the sulphur. I have since been soaking sultanas overnight then boiling them as I read this gets rid of the sulphur, I hope this is correct.
I have a kids activity blog, do you mind if I add some of this info to a post and link back to your site at the end? If not, that’s fine, just let me know.
Thank you so much. I love getting your emails each week.
Cheers, Kate
I would avoid eating any dried fruit from Turkey due to possible radiation and plutonium poisoning from the nuclear plant meltdown in Chernobyl many years ago. Watch the videos by Helen Caldicott.
Hi, great article about the 220’s, at the end you mentioned your wary of sunflower oil.. I thought it was ok, have you done some research on that aswell? I couldn’t find an article. Thanks!!
Hi Kit, I generally avoid seed and vegetable oils. There is some great info here: https://changinghabits.com.au/why-i-never-consume-vegetable-oils/
Thanks for the sulphur comments. I am an Australian farmer involved in fruit. Yes Australia will allow up to 3000 ppm on dried fruit and they deemed this to be a safe level.
Did you know that 99.9 % of dried fruits besides sultanas sold in Australia are imported.
Did you also know that most of these imports have no regards for the sulphur level in their dried fruits !!
Some of the dried fruits that enter Australia have in excess 10 times the level of sulphur allowed by this government. The fruit when eaten will tend to burn in your mouth let alone in your stomach.
So what is our government doing about this situation ? Answer- Nothing
Hi Ray, you cannot rely on the government to ensure we are eating safe foods! That’s why I try to help people understand labels and things to watch out for.