SO2 questions regarding limit

[radfordgraham333]

Hello everyone,

I did a search and found some info on this but have a few specific questions that I didn't find answers to. 

I'm wondering about the limit of 200ppm total SO2 additions to cider from start to finished bottled product. 

I pressed the end of my apples about a month ago and lowered the ph with malic acid to about 3.6-3.8 (ph strips) and added 150ppm SO2 before pitching commercial yeast. 

So technically I have 50ppm left to add. 

But I'd like to add some once I've racked to carboys and again at bottling(I will be bottle conditioning it all). 

So...is the legal limit of 200ppm because anymore will affect the taste, or is it a health concern? 

If I add 50ppm at racking and again at bottling that takes me to 250 total and I'm wondering if there would be any issues doing this? 

Obviously adding 25ppm at racking and again at bottling or just adding 50ppm at bottling is an option. 

But I'm curious if anyone has info/input regarding the taste/health concerns of adding more than 200ppm. 

Any input is appreciated,

Thanks,

Graham

Sent from my Galaxy

[Andrew Lea]

The various levels set for total SO2 which is allowable as a food additive differ country by country and by product type. But fundamentally it’s all about protecting public health.  The NOEL (no observable toxic effect level) for SO2 in rats is 70 mg/kg body weight. This would equate to an intake of 4.9 grams of SO2 for a man. However, it is customary in food toxicology legislation to allow a high safety margin, even as much as a 100 fold, over the NOEL. On the other side of the equation you have the issue of how much or how little SO2 is technologically effective to do the required job in the product. 

By combining these considerations you come up with a MPL (Maximum Permitted Level) which is set by legislation for each product. In the EU, for wines and ciders, it’s mostly around 200 ppm total.  SO2 is further complicated by the contrast between free and bound states (only the free state is likely to have any taste impact) and also the fact that some people eg asthmatics are especially sensitive to free SO2 which is outside of the general toxicity issue. Hence the required “allergen” labelling even though SO2 is not truly an allergen. 

If you want to get some idea of the complexity of these considerations you may like to scan the latest European Food Safety Authority thinking on the subject. I don’t suggest you read it all though!    https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4438

Andrew

Wittenham Hill Cider Portal
www.cider.org.uk

On 15 Feb 2021, at 18:09, radfordgraham333 <radfordg...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[radfordgraham333]

Thanks Andrew for the thorough explanation. Much appreciated!

Sent from my Galaxy

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cider-workshop/C47F6772-262C-43EA-8C72-248F0F8BE153%40cider.org.uk.