Is cider high in histamine?
Cider is likely moderate in histamine, though it was not measured in our sources: it is fermented like beer and wine, which both had histamine in most samples, and its alcohol slows histamine breakdown.
- Histamine
- Not measured
- Other amines
- Not measured
- Liberator
- Not on the lists we use
- DAO blocker
- Possible
What each source says
| Source | Verdict | What it says, in our words |
|---|---|---|
| Apple juice study in the 2018 review 1 | Measured | Ten apple juices, cider's raw material, had no detectable histamine; cider itself was not measured. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets (2021 review) 2 | Cider is not on the review's chart of excluded foods; wine and beer are excluded by all 10. | |
| Review of amines in beverages, 2022 3 | Some traditional ciders also go through a bacterial fermentation, and some of those bacteria can form amines. | |
| Review of histamine intolerance, 2020 4 | DAO deficiency can be temporary and reversible, caused by substances that include alcohol. | |
| SIGHI food list 5 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
How freshness and processing change it
Whatever histamine cider contains is formed during fermentation, so it is in the bottle or keg when you buy it. Traditional, unfiltered and farmhouse ciders, which are more likely to go through a bacterial fermentation, may differ from mass-produced ones, but none were measured in our sources.
Not measured. Fermented like beer and wine, and it contains alcohol. (estimate)
Not measured. Still fermented before the alcohol is removed. (estimate)
Why we rate cider 2
Cider was not measured in any of the studies we use, so this page is an estimate built from how cider is made and from the drinks it most resembles. That matters, because cider is often suggested as a gentler alternative to wine or beer, and we found no measurements to support or refute that.
Start with the raw material. In a study collected in a 2018 review from a University of Barcelona team, ten commercial apple juices had no detectable histamine, and their other amines were low: putrescine averaged 1.02 mg/kg and cadaverine 2.30 mg/kg. So the apples are not the source of any histamine a cider contains.
Fermentation is where it could come from. A 2022 review of amines in drinks describes cider as apple must or reconstituted apple juice fermented by yeasts. Some traditionally made ciders ferment spontaneously with the yeasts already on the fruit and then go through malolactic fermentation by lactic acid bacteria, the same bacterial step that in red wine favours amine formation. The review notes that some of these bacteria can produce amines, naming tyramine, putrescine and cadaverine. It gives no histamine figures we could check, and our sources do not compare farmhouse with mass-produced ciders.
The drinks made the same way did contain histamine. Beer averaged 1.23 mg/L across 176 samples and wine 3.63 mg/L across 299 in the Barcelona team's survey, with histamine found in most samples of both. A fermented apple drink is likely to fall in the same low-to-moderate range, though we cannot say where.
Then there is the alcohol. Alcohol and acetaldehyde compete with histamine for aldehyde dehydrogenase, so histamine builds up, and the 2020 review lists alcohol among the causes of a temporary, reversible DAO deficiency. Cider carries that effect like any alcoholic drink.
We rate cider 2, "moderate", as an estimate, the same as beer. Pear cider (perry) is made the same way and gets the same estimate. Alcohol-free cider removes the alcohol but not the fermentation, so it stays at 2.
Questions about cider and histamine
Is cider low in histamine?
It was not measured in the studies we use. It is a fermented alcoholic drink like beer and wine, which had histamine in most samples, so we rate it 2, "moderate", as an estimate.
Is cider better than wine for histamine intolerance?
We cannot say from measurements, because cider was not tested. Both are fermented and both contain alcohol, which slows histamine breakdown. White wine averaged 1.24 mg/L of histamine in 83 samples.
Evidence behind this page
- Ten apple juices had no detectable histamine; tyramine averaged 0.67 mg/kg, putrescine 1.02 mg/kg and cadaverine 2.30 mg/kg (study [41] in the review's table). 1
- Cider is made by fermenting apple must or reconstituted apple juice; some traditional ciders are fermented spontaneously by their own yeasts and also undergo malolactic fermentation by lactic acid bacteria, some strains of which can produce amines including tyramine, putrescine and cadaverine. 3
- Beer averaged 1.23 mg/L of histamine across 176 samples and wine 3.63 mg/L across 299; histamine in wine and beer is much lower than in other fermented foods. 2
- Alcohol and acetaldehyde compete with histamine for aldehyde dehydrogenase, resulting in histamine accumulating in the body. 2
- DAO deficiency can be a temporary and reversible condition caused by the inhibitory effect of substances such as biogenic amines and alcohol. 4
Sources
- 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)
- Visciano P, Schirone M. Update on Biogenic Amines in Fermented and Non-Fermented Beverages. Foods 11(3):353, 2022. doi:10.3390/foods11030353 (Visciano P et al. 2022)
- 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)