Sulphur Dioxide (220) the key to bright orange dried apricots

Dried apricots can be a delicious and healthy snack for children but did you know that preservative 220, or sulphur dioxide, is used to maintain their bright orange colour in the drying process?

Dried apricots, like many fruits when dried or preserved, tend to darken in colour and apparently we, as consumers, find that unappealing. We associate freshness with bright colours but the price we pay for that perception is a generous dollop of a preservative that is ‘ripe’ with health issues for children and asthmatics or anyone with an allergy to preservatives.

It is possible to buy apricots that have been solar dried or dehydrated without the additives, but be prepared to hunt around a little. Although your preservative-free dried apricots might be a little on the brown side, the taste of sulphur-free dried fruit is delicious.

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Lindy Schneider is a writer and researcher with a keen interest in health, wellbeing and natural childcare. She is an advocator of a chemical-free lifestyle in the best interests of her family, the community and a sustainable world. She lives in the Yarra Valley with her partner and two young children.

Photo: Sulphur-free dried apricots. Source: ko-kr.facebook.com