Further more, there's nothing actually wrong in using campden for hygiene purposes, but it has to be done in the right way i.e. freeze the fruit for about a week (with peaches, preferably after removing the pits/stones) to make sure that it's well frozen. Then remove from freezer and defrost well.
Only then, if you're really worried about possible wild yeast contamination, should you add a campden tablet to the fruit, making sure that it's crushed or you could use an equivalent amount of powdered sulphite.
Do not, under any circumstances, add it straight to the must. Put the "treated" fruit, into a container that has some sort of venting. I usually use a small bucket with either a cloth or cling wrap cover. Leave it like that for a minimum of 24 hours, 48 is better - if you use cling wrap for the cover, you can see what you're doing to gently swirl the defrosted fruit around so any of it that isn't entirely submerged in juice/liquid, doesn't dry out much (if at all) - a cloth cover needs removing so you can see whats happening when swirling it to keep the top moist.
The time is to allow the crushed campden/powdered sulphite to do it's thing, removing any possible wild yeast contamination, but also for the majority of the sulphite to disspate, so that when you do add the fruit to the batch, the little bit that is still dissolved, has little or no effect on the main part of the must/yeast......
I know, having read a number of Mikes (excellent and helpful) posts, while he doesn't like to use sulphites at the early stages of the making (and it certainly isn't necessary with honey musts anyway), it's not a complete no-no, just that needs to be done with care........
A good read for the new mead maker is the
Gotmead NewBee Guide. It would probably help, as there's a sh1t load of excellent advice and guidance in it. Plus, as a first batch, it's often suggested, that the new mead maker, makes a batch of JAO (as per chapter 6 of the NewBee guide), exactly as the recipe suggests, as it's relatively quick to make. It's not perfect when young, despite what the recipe says. I just make a batch and then leave it until the fruit has sunk, and it's cleared. Only then transferring it to glass to age, for a minimum of months, often more.