Health & Fitness: Tossing Sulfites Out of Salads

Crisp green lettuce. Pulpy red tomatoes. Moist orange melons. The heaping displays at salad bars in supermarkets and restaurants across the nation are as appealing to the eye as they are tempting to the palate. For many people, building a salad to order is a bountiful, healthful new ritual. But for some there is a hidden canker. To keep fruits and vegetables tantalizingly fresh, produce has often been sprayed or dipped in sulfite solutions that prevent wilting and discoloration. Sulfites were long considered safe, but in recent years their skyrocketing use has brought disturbing reports. At least twelve deaths have been...