Please, do not blame your headache on sulphur dioxide*. It is (in most cases) completely innocent.

Yes, some people, estimated to be far less than 1% of the population, is sensitive to sulphur dioxide. Usually this sensitivity is corelated to severe asthma.

If you have severe asthma, please disregard this article and be mindful of sulphur dioxide. It can kill you.

But if you can consume dried fruit, fresh fruit salad from the supermarket, crisps, fruit juice, canned fish or a thousand other things without an issue, then sulphur dioxide is not your problem. Because, they all generally contain far more sulphur dioxide than wine. For instance, 100g of dried apricots can contain up to 300mg of sulphur, while an entire bottle of wine (750ml) generally contain far less than 150mg. Meaning that you can consume two bottles of wine while your kid has a handful of dried fruit, and you will have consumed the same amount of sulphur dioxide.

So, rather than blaming the sulphur dioxide, blame the alcohol, the histamines in red wine, or the many other additives** that producers add to wine without your knowledge.

*Read more under Sulphur Dioxide
**Read more under Additives in Wine