Is chilli high in histamine?
Chilli is low in histamine as far as the evidence goes: a group of 12 dried spices had none, and bell peppers, its close relatives, had none either. Fermented chilli sauces are another matter.
- Histamine
- Not detected
- Other amines
- Not measured
- 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 (food group) 1 | Measured | No detectable histamine in 12 spice samples; the spices are not named. |
| Bell peppers, same plant genus, Spain 2 | No histamine in 9 green and 8 red bell peppers. Chillies were not tested. | |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 3 | Chilli is not on the review's chart of foods the diets exclude. | |
| SIGHI food list 4 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spices sold in Spain (group) 1 (Table 1, row "Spices") | 12 | not detected | individual spices not named; other amines not reported |
mg/kg = milligrams of histamine per kilogram of food. "Not detected" means below the laboratory's detection limit.
How freshness and processing change it
Dried chilli flakes and powders keep well sealed. Fresh chillies were not measured; use them while they are firm. Chilli sauces and pastes vary: some are fermented, some are made with vinegar, and none were measured.
A group of 12 spices had no histamine; chilli is not named in it. (estimate)
Not measured; bell peppers, the same genus, had no histamine. (estimate)
Not measured; fermentation forms histamine, and sauerkraut averaged 43.74 mg/kg. (estimate)
Why we rate chilli 0
Chilli comes in two forms that need separate answers: the fresh pods, and the dried flakes and powders on the spice shelf. Neither has been tested for histamine on its own in the studies we use.
For dried chilli, the closest figure is a group measurement. A 2020 review by a University of Barcelona team found no detectable histamine in any of 12 spice samples sold in Spain. The review does not name the spices, so we cannot confirm that chilli was among them. Dried chilli flakes, chilli powder and cayenne are spices in the ordinary sense, dried and not fermented, so the group figure is a fair guide, and we estimate them at 0.
Fresh chillies are fruits of the same plant genus as bell peppers. The same team tested nine green and eight red bell peppers and found no histamine in any of them. Green ones carried a lot of putrescine, a related amine, averaging 90.04 mg/kg, and red ones little, 2.42 mg/kg. Chillies were not part of that survey, so those figures are a family resemblance, not a measurement. We estimate fresh chillies at 0.
The heat in chilli comes from capsaicin, a different compound from histamine, and our sources did not study it. A meal that tastes fiery is not, for that reason, high in histamine. The 2021 review also notes that there are no human studies showing that any food releases the body's own histamine, and chilli is not among the examples of suggested "histamine liberators" it lists.
Chilli sauces are the form to check. Some, including several well-known hot sauces and many Asian chilli pastes, are made from fermented chilli mash, and some pastes also contain fermented soybeans. Fermentation is one of the main ways food builds up histamine: soy-fermented products sold in Spain averaged 73.95 mg/kg, with 5% of samples above 486.31 mg/kg, and sauerkraut averaged 43.74 mg/kg. Fermented chilli sauces were not measured; we estimate them at 2. Sauces made from fresh chilli, vinegar and salt are a different product.
Chilli does not appear among the foods charted as excluded by the ten published low-histamine diets in the team's 2021 review.
Questions about chilli and histamine
Is hot sauce high in histamine?
Hot sauces were not measured. Those made from fermented chilli mash, or with fermented soybeans, are the ones to be careful with, because fermentation can form histamine; we estimate them at 2. Check the label.
Does spicy food release histamine?
Our sources do not support that. The 2021 review we use says there are no human studies showing that any food releases the body's own histamine, and chilli is not among the suggested "liberators" it lists.
Evidence behind this page
- A group of 12 spice samples sold in Spain had no detectable histamine; mean, median, minimum and maximum were all not detected. The review does not name the spices. 1
- Nine green and eight red bell peppers sold in Spain had no detectable histamine; putrescine averaged 90.04 mg/kg in green and 2.42 mg/kg in red peppers. 2
- Soy-fermented products sold in Spain averaged 73.95 mg/kg of histamine, with 5% of samples above 486.31 mg/kg; sauerkraut averaged 43.74 mg/kg. 3
- The 2021 review says there are no human studies showing that any food releases the body's own histamine, and chilli is not among the examples of suggested histamine-releasing foods it lists. 3
Sources
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)