Is beef high in histamine?
Fresh beef is low in histamine: no histamine was found in 199 lab samples of fresh meat. Stews kept for days, leftovers, dry-aged steak and jerky were not measured and rate higher.
- Histamine
- Not detected
- Other amines
- Low
- Liberator
- Not on the lists we use
- DAO blocker
- No evidence
What each source says
| Source | Verdict | What it says, in our words |
|---|---|---|
| Lab measurements, Spain 1 | Measured | No detectable histamine in 199 samples of fresh meat. Beef was not reported separately. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 1 | 3 of 10 exclude fresh meat. | |
| Histamine intolerance review, 2020 2 | Meat can be eaten on a low-histamine diet as long as its freshness is ensured. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh meat sold in Spain (group; species not given) 1 (Table 1) | 199 | not detected | putrescine mean 1.35 mg/kg; cadaverine mean 5.02 mg/kg; tyramine mean 4.32 mg/kg |
mg/kg = milligrams of histamine per kilogram of food. "Not detected" means below the laboratory's detection limit.
How freshness and processing change it
Beef stays low only while it is fresh. Histamine forms as bacteria act on stored meat, slowly in the fridge and faster when it is warm, and it survives cooking and reheating. Buy beef fresh or frozen, cook it soon, and freeze leftovers in portions as soon as they have cooled.
Fresh meat (group) had no detectable histamine in 199 samples. (measured)
Not measured; cold storage slows the bacteria that form amines. (estimate)
Not measured. Storage time adds histamine, and reheating does not remove it. (estimate)
Not measured; the meat is aged for weeks before it is sold. (estimate)
Not measured; dried and stored for a long time, and often marinated in soy sauce. (estimate)
Why we rate beef 0
Beef is low in histamine when it is fresh, and the reason is simple: histamine in meat is made by bacteria from histidine, an amino acid, while the meat is stored. A University of Barcelona team tested 199 samples of fresh meat sold in Spain and found no histamine in any of them. The paper reports fresh meat as one group and does not say how many samples were beef, so beef is covered by the group figure rather than measured on its own. The other amines the team measured were low too: putrescine averaged 1.35 mg/kg, cadaverine 5.02 mg/kg and tyramine 4.32 mg/kg.
Searches for "is red meat high in histamine" often start from lists that put all meat together. The published diets separate fresh meat from processed meat: only three of the ten low-histamine diets in the team's 2021 review exclude fresh meat, against all ten for dry-fermented sausages, and the review itself says fresh, cooked and cured meat are not expected to contain histamine as long as freshness and hygiene are guaranteed. A 2020 review by the same group says meat can be eaten on a low-histamine diet on that condition.
The condition is where beef gets complicated, because so much of it is cooked in ways that involve time. A stew, a pot of chilli or a braised brisket is usually made in a big batch and eaten over several days. Bacteria keep working in the fridge, only more slowly, and the histamine they make is not destroyed when the dish is reheated, because amines are heat-stable. Dry-aged steak is aged for weeks before it is sold. Beef jerky is dried, keeps for a long time and is often marinated in soy sauce; soy-fermented products averaged 73.95 mg/kg of histamine in the same Spanish survey. None of these forms was measured in the studies we use, so we rate them 2, "moderate", as estimates.
We rate fresh beef 0, "low". Steaks and roasts bought fresh or frozen, cooked soon and eaten the same day match what was measured. If you batch-cook, cool the dish quickly and freeze it in portions instead of keeping the pot in the fridge all week: a fridge slows the bacteria that form amines but does not stop them. Minced beef has its own page.
Questions about beef and histamine
Is red meat high in histamine?
Fresh red meat is not: fresh meat sold in Spain had no detectable histamine in 199 samples. Red meat that has been dried, cured, aged or kept as leftovers is different, because histamine forms as meat is stored and processed, and cooking does not remove it.
Is beef stew low histamine?
A stew eaten the day it is made should be close to fresh beef. Stew kept in the fridge and reheated over several days was not measured; we rate it 2 as an estimate, because amines form in stored meat and survive reheating. Freezing portions soon after cooking keeps it closer to fresh.
Is beef jerky low histamine?
It was not measured in the studies we use. We rate it 2 as an estimate: it is dried and stored for a long time, and it is often marinated in soy sauce, a fermented product; soy-fermented products averaged 73.95 mg/kg of histamine in a Spanish survey.
Evidence behind this page
- Fresh meat sold in Spain had no detectable histamine across 199 samples; putrescine, cadaverine and tyramine averaged 1.35, 5.02 and 4.32 mg/kg. 1
- Fresh, cooked and cured meat are not expected to contain histamine as long as freshness and hygiene are guaranteed; three of ten published low-histamine diets exclude fresh meat, against all ten for dry-fermented sausages. 1
- In fresh meat, histamine reflects a lack of freshness or poor hygiene, and meat can be eaten on a low-histamine diet as long as its freshness is ensured. 2
- Refrigeration delays amine formation without stopping it, and amines are heat-stable, so cooking does not destroy them. 4
- Soy-fermented products sold in Spain averaged 73.95 mg/kg of histamine across 21 samples. 1
Sources
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Low-Histamine Diets: Is the Exclusion of Foods Justified by Their Histamine Content? Nutrients 13(5):1395, 2021. doi:10.3390/nu13051395 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2021)
- Comas-Basté O, Sánchez-Pérez S, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla M, Vidal-Carou MDC. Histamine Intolerance: The Current State of the Art. Biomolecules 10(8):1181, 2020. doi:10.3390/biom10081181 (Comas-Basté O et al. 2020)
- Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI). Food compatibility list for histamine intolerance. histaminintoleranz.ch (accessed November 2026), 2026. Link (Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI) 2026)
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Rabell-González J, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Biogenic Amines in Plant-Origin Foods: Are They Frequently Underestimated in Low-Histamine Diets? Foods 7(12):205, 2018. doi:10.3390/foods7120205 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2018)