norskog (03/20/83)
#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 megatest!fortune!norskog hpda!fortune!norskog amd70!fortune!norskog
bryan (03/22/83)
One minor correction to the note on using sulphites in beer and wine making: potassium or sodium metabisulphite is used. Sodium sulphite is an antioxidant (I use it when compounding photographic developing solutions) but is not used to sterilize. -Bryan Lyles