Wine additive still legal in NZ

By DITA DE BONI

A common chemical additive that has sparked legal proceedings against an Australian wine label is still permitted in New Zealand wine.

Silver nitrate, used to remove the sulphur flavour sometimes bound into wine during fermentation, is still occasionally used in this country.

But small traces of the additive found in export product made by Kingston Estate Wines in South Australia have led to an investigation of the company by the Australian Director of Public Prosecutions.

On Friday, the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation reinstalled Kingston Estate's export licence after lifting a suspension, but said wines submitted for export by the company would be tested for the compound.

Kingston Estate sells bottled table wine in New Zealand, but the product under scrutiny is bulk table wine sold only in Britain.

However, even the bulk product would not have breached New Zealand food and beverage standards.

Silver nitrate is listed in the New Zealand food regulations as a permitted additive to wine. Silver nitrate is used only in very small quantities in wine.

Large doses can cause stomach ache and, in severe cases, gastroenteritis - a "most improbable scenario" in consumable products, according to Jim Fraser, a Wellington-based consultant to the wine industry.

Philip Gregan, of the New Zealand Wines Institute, said that although silver nitrate was a legal additive here, he did not think it was commonly used.He said the anomalies between the Australian and New Zealand wine industries over additives should end with the introduction of a joint Food Standards Code.

The code will be presented to the two countries' health ministers this year for approval.

Comments on the draft code close tomorrow.