By law, adverse reactions to drugs must be reported to FDA by doctors or pharmaceutical companies. FDA requires food manufacturers and processors to disclose the presence of sulfiting agents in concentrations of at least 10 parts per million, but the threshold may be even lower. Calif. A person can develop sulfite sensitivity at any point in life, and no one knows what triggers onset or the mechanism by which reactions occur. Colo. He says that in a severe reaction an overwhelming degree of bronchial constriction occurs, causing breathing to stop. This can lead to lack of oxygen reaching the brain, heart, and other organs and tissues and, possibly, a fatal heart rhythm irregularity.
Sulfite sensitivity can be tricky to diagnose.
Karen went to an internist and two pulmonary specialists without getting to the bottom of her problem. I'll ask a patient complaining of an adverse reaction what he or she ate and drank when it occurred. If beer or wine doesn't seem to be the problem, I tend to dismiss sulfite sensitivity. People who have positive skin tests to sulfites are likely to be allergic to the additive, rather than have a sensitivity. But when FDA reevaluated their safety and proposed to affirm the GRAS status of sulfiting agents in 1982, the agency received numerous reports from consumers and the medical community regarding adverse health reactions.