Is sodium sulfite (E221) safe for use in the food sector?

Not completely safe. Sodium sulfite (E221) has become the leading preservatives in the food sector. Food preservatives serve as antimicrobials and/or antioxidants. It is used for the preservation of pastries, margarine, cheese, in sour soup tins, beverages, fruit, sausages, fishes, sweets and ground beef. Sodium sulfite is negative in mutagenicity studies and was not irritating or sensitizing in clinical tests. For sodium sulfite there exist only a few studies with human neutrophils and macrophages, in which superoxide production and gene expression was found to be triggered by sulfite.

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