Concerns about Chitosan

 Concerns about Chitosan

The product you are referring to is a fining agent, it helps to clear the wine. It is stirred in at the stabilization step. Although the raw material for chitosin is derived from shellfish, the way it is processed completely destroys all proteins. The shells are ground to a fine powder and soaked in sodium hydroxide (essentially lye, the same ingredient in oven cleaner that breaks down the proteins in the material on the wall of a dirty oven). It is processed three times to achieve the grade that we use as a fining agent. What is left is actually a long-chain polysaccharide, a form of sugar that is so complex that it resembles polyester more than actual table sugar. 

This process degrades _all_ of the protein in the shells. Proteins are the compounds that cause the allergic reaction in human beings: no protein, no reaction. 

The material is so safe that it is currently used in water treatment facilities across Canada and the world: you may have already consumed some. It is even sold as a dietary supplement (it absorbs certain fats in the digestive system, and some people believe it helps with weight loss). 

So the chitosin is completely safe.