Is parmesan high in histamine?
Parmesan is high in histamine: cured and grated cheeses averaged 33.10 mg/kg in lab tests, with one in twenty above 203.30 mg/kg, and all 10 published low-histamine diets exclude them.
- Histamine
- Present
- Other amines
- Notable levels
- 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 | Cured, semi-cured and grated cheese averaged 33.10 mg/kg in 80 samples; 5% were above 203.30 mg/kg. Parmesan was not reported separately. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 1 | All 10 exclude cured, semi-cured and grated cheese. | |
| Review of low-histamine diets, 2020 2 | Cured and semi-cured cheese and grated cheese are excluded by more than 60% of the diets it compared. | |
| Clinical review, 2024 3 | Lists aged cheese among the foods a low-histamine diet avoids. | |
| SIGHI food list 4 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cured, semi-cured and grated cheese, Spanish market (group) 1 (Table 1) | 80 | mean 33.1 mg/kg, range nd–389.86 mg/kg, 95th percentile 203.3 mg/kg | tyramine mean 128 mg/kg (up to 1567.50); putrescine mean 68.90 mg/kg; cadaverine mean 87.25 mg/kg |
| Cheese made from raw milk, Spanish market (group; median 18.38 mg/kg) 2 (Table 1) | 20 | mean 59.37 mg/kg, range nd–389.86 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
Parmesan's histamine comes from its long ripening, not from going off, so a fresh-looking wedge is no guide. A 2012 review of dairy foods describes cheeses whose histamine-forming bacteria and histamine rose after grating, which makes pre-grated parmesan the riskier form. Histamine is heat-stable, so it stays in a baked gratin or a sauce.
Cured and grated cheese group: mean 33.10 mg/kg, 5% above 203.30 mg/kg. (measured)
Not measured separately; grating has been linked to more histamine in some cheeses. (estimate)
Not measured; histamine is not destroyed by heat. (estimate)
Why we rate parmesan 3
Parmesan is the cheese most people have in mind when they hear that aged cheese is high in histamine, and the evidence supports that, although parmesan was not tested on its own in the Spanish surveys we use.
Parmigiano Reggiano is made from raw cow's milk, ripened for many months and very often sold grated. That puts it in two of the groups a University of Barcelona team measured in cheese sold in Spain. Eighty cured, semi-cured and grated cheeses averaged 33.10 mg/kg of histamine; one in twenty was above 203.30 mg/kg, and the highest reached 389.86 mg/kg. Twenty cheeses made from raw milk averaged 59.37 mg/kg, with a median of 18.38 mg/kg. When the average is that far above the median, most samples were moderate and a few were very high, and nothing on the label tells you which kind you have. Tyramine, a related amine, was higher still in the cured cheeses, at 128 mg/kg on average.
A 2012 review of amines in dairy foods explains why. Ripening breaks milk protein into free amino acids that bacteria can turn into amines, and in general the longer a cheese ripens, the more amines it holds; the highest histamine levels are usually found in long-ripened cheeses. The same review describes cheeses whose histamine-forming bacteria and histamine rose after grating, because grating adds handling and surface. Pre-grated parmesan in a tub or bag has been through exactly that.
The published diets are unanimous. All ten in the team's 2021 review exclude cured, semi-cured and grated cheese, and a 2024 clinical review lists aged cheese among the foods to avoid. Grana Padano and other hard Italian grating cheeses are made in a similar way and fall in the same groups.
We rate parmesan 3, "high": the group average is above 20 mg/kg, and samples above 100 mg/kg are documented in a fermented food. Cooking does not help, because histamine is heat-stable. On pasta, a spoonful of ricotta stirred in at the end or torn fresh mozzarella gives creaminess. Nothing fresh copies parmesan's salty, savoury bite, so a little extra salt and fresh herbs do more than another cheese would.
Questions about parmesan and histamine
Is parmesan high in histamine?
Yes. Parmesan was not tested on its own, but 80 cured, semi-cured and grated cheeses averaged 33.10 mg/kg, with 5% above 203.30 mg/kg, and all ten published low-histamine diets in a 2021 review exclude them. We rate it 3.
Does cooking parmesan lower its histamine?
No. Histamine is heat-stable, so parmesan baked into a gratin or melted into a sauce keeps the histamine it had.
Evidence behind this page
- Eighty cured, semi-cured and grated cheeses sold in Spain averaged 33.10 mg/kg of histamine; 5% were above 203.30 mg/kg and the highest was 389.86 mg/kg. 1
- Twenty cheeses made from raw milk averaged 59.37 mg/kg of histamine, with a median of 18.38 mg/kg. 2
- All ten published low-histamine diets in the 2021 review exclude cured, semi-cured and grated cheese. 1
- In general, the longer a cheese ripens, the more biogenic amines it contains, and the highest histamine levels are usually found in long-ripened cheeses. 5
- In some cheeses, histamine-forming bacteria and histamine increased after grating. 5
- Biogenic amines are heat-stable, so heat treatment does not lower them. 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)
- Jochum C. Histamine Intolerance: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Beyond. Nutrients 16(8):1219, 2024. doi:10.3390/nu16081219 (Jochum C 2024)
- 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)
- Linares DM, del Río B, Ladero V, Martínez N, Fernández M, Martín MC, Álvarez MA. Factors Influencing Biogenic Amines Accumulation in Dairy Products. Frontiers in Microbiology 3:180, 2012. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2012.00180 (Linares DM et al. 2012)