Is ham high in histamine?
Cooked ham is mostly low in histamine: cooked meat products averaged 0.30 mg/kg in lab tests. Dry-cured ham such as prosciutto or Serrano measured higher and is moderate, and opened packs kept for days rate higher.
- Histamine
- Varies by sample
- 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, cooked meat (Spain) 1 | Measured | Cooked meat products averaged 0.30 mg/kg in 48 samples; the highest had 4.80 mg/kg. Ham was not reported separately. |
| Lab measurements, cured meat (Spain) 2 | Measured | Cured meat averaged 4.89 mg/kg in 23 samples (12.98 mg/kg in a second report); one sample reached 150 mg/kg. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 2 | 2 of 10 exclude cured meat; cooked meat is not on the chart. | |
| Low-histamine diet review, 2021 2 | No histamine expected in cooked or cured meat if freshness and hygiene are guaranteed. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooked meat products sold in Spain (group; products not given) 1 (Table 1, row "Cooked meat") | 48 | mean 0.3 mg/kg, range nd–4.8 mg/kg | median not detected |
| Cured meat sold in Spain (group; products not given) 2 (Table 1, row "Cured meat") | 23 | mean 4.89 mg/kg, range nd–150 mg/kg, 95th percentile 3.54 mg/kg | cadaverine mean 38.03 mg/kg (up to 305) |
| Cured meat (group), second report from the same team 1 (Table 1, row "Cured meat") | 23 | mean 12.98 mg/kg, range nd–150 mg/kg | median 0.80 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
Ham is sold already cooked or cured, so part of its storage history happened before you bought it. Once a pack is open, time starts to count again: eat sliced ham soon after opening rather than over a week, and freeze portions of a large baked ham once it has cooled.
Cooked meat products (group) averaged 0.30 mg/kg; the highest sample had 4.80. (measured)
Not measured. Time after opening adds histamine. (estimate)
Not measured. Storage time adds histamine, and reheating does not remove it. (estimate)
Cured meat (group) averaged 4.89 mg/kg in one report and 12.98 in another; one sample reached 150. (measured)
Why we rate ham 1
"Ham" covers two products that were measured in different groups, and they are not the same for histamine. Cooked ham, the pink sliced ham sold in packs and at deli counters, is brined and cooked. Dry-cured ham, such as prosciutto, Serrano and Parma ham, is salted and air-dried for months and eaten without cooking.
Cooked ham belongs to the group the University of Barcelona team calls cooked meat. A 2020 review by the team reports 48 samples with an average of 0.30 mg/kg of histamine and a highest sample of 4.80 mg/kg; the median was below the detection limit, so at least half of the samples had none detectable. That is close to fresh meat, which had no histamine in 199 samples, and well below fresh tomato at 2.51 mg/kg. The table does not list which products were in the group, so ham is covered by the group figure rather than measured on its own.
Dry-cured ham belongs with cured meat, a group whose products are not listed either, and here two reports from the same team give different averages for 23 samples: 4.89 mg/kg in the 2021 review and 12.98 mg/kg in the 2020 review. Both give a highest sample of 150 mg/kg, and the 2020 review gives a median of 0.80 mg/kg, which means at least half of the samples contained some histamine. Cadaverine, another amine, averaged 38.03 mg/kg. Dry-cured ham is not fermented the way salami is, and the gap shows: dry-fermented sausages averaged 21.57 mg/kg across 424 samples.
The published diets are relaxed about both. Two of the ten low-histamine diets in the 2021 review exclude cured meat, and cooked meat does not appear on its chart. The review expects no histamine in cooked or cured meat as long as freshness and hygiene are guaranteed, and warns that keeping these foods on most diets is a risk for sensitive people when freshness is not.
We rate cooked ham 1, "mostly low": histamine was not detected in at least half of the samples but was found in some. We rate dry-cured ham 2, "moderate", because histamine was found in at least half of the cured meat samples at an average under 20 mg/kg; the single sample at 150 mg/kg is a reason for care. Packs left open for days and leftover baked ham have had more time for amines to form, and we rate them 2 as estimates. For a sandwich meat with even less histamine, freshly roasted turkey or chicken, sliced and eaten the same day, matches the fresh meat figures.
Questions about ham and histamine
Is prosciutto high in histamine?
Prosciutto is a dry-cured ham, so it falls in the cured meat group, which averaged 4.89 mg/kg of histamine in one report and 12.98 mg/kg in another, with one sample at 150 mg/kg. Prosciutto was not measured on its own. We rate dry-cured ham 2, "moderate".
Is deli ham low histamine?
Cooked ham from a freshly opened pack is mostly low: cooked meat products averaged 0.30 mg/kg across 48 samples. A pack that has been open for several days was not measured; we rate it 2 as an estimate.
Evidence behind this page
- Cooked meat products sold in Spain averaged 0.30 mg/kg of histamine across 48 samples, with a median below the detection limit and a highest sample of 4.80 mg/kg. 1
- Cured meat sold in Spain averaged 4.89 mg/kg of histamine across 23 samples in a 2021 review and 12.98 mg/kg (median 0.80 mg/kg) in a 2020 review; both give a highest sample of 150 mg/kg. 21
- Cadaverine in cured meat averaged 38.03 mg/kg, against 5.02 mg/kg in fresh meat. 2
- Two of ten published low-histamine diets exclude cured meat; cooked meat is not charted separately. 2
- Cooked and cured meat are not expected to contain histamine as long as freshness and hygiene are guaranteed, but keeping them on most diets is a risk for sensitive people when freshness is not guaranteed. 2
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, 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)