Is rice milk high in histamine?
Rice milk may be moderate in histamine, though it was not measured in our sources: rice had none, but a study of plant milks made from cereals, rice among the cereals, reported histamine as their main amine.
- Histamine
- Not measured
- 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 (rice) 1 | Measured | Two samples of rice had no detectable histamine; rice milk itself was not measured. |
| Review of amines in beverages, 2022 2 | Reports a study of cereal and pseudo-cereal plant milks in which histamine was the most abundant amine. | |
| 10 published low-histamine diets (2021 review) 3 | Rice milk is not on the review's chart of excluded foods; neither are cereals. | |
| SIGHI food list 4 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
How freshness and processing change it
Rice milk is pasteurised or UHT-treated before sale, like other plant milks. What happens to its amines after a carton is opened was not studied; use it within the time printed on the pack.
Not measured. Cereal-based plant milks were reported to contain histamine. (estimate)
Not measured. Rice had no histamine; not stored or processed. (estimate)
Why we rate rice milk 2
A 2022 review of amines in drinks notes that plant milks are growing in Europe and North America partly because of cow's milk allergy and intolerance, and as part of vegan diets. On a low-histamine diet the question is whether the drink is as low as the grain, and our sources cannot fully answer it.
The grain is about as low as foods get. A University of Barcelona team's 2018 review reports two samples of rice with no detectable histamine, tyramine or cadaverine, and putrescine at 2.4 mg/kg; four other studies reported up to 1.2 mg/kg. The team's 2020 review pooled 28 cereal samples at an average of 0.12 mg/kg of histamine, and a 2024 clinical review gives rice as an example of a low-histamine food.
The drink was not measured in those studies. The 2022 review describes how plant milks are made, by extracting the grain with water, removing the solids and heat-treating the result, and it reports a study of plant milks from cereals and pseudo-cereals in which histamine was the most abundant amine found. Rice is a cereal, but the review does not say whether rice milk was among the drinks tested, and we could not check the original study. We also found the review misreporting the units of another study by a factor of a thousand, so we do not repeat its figures.
That leaves us between two readings. If the cereal-milk finding is right, rice milk can carry histamine its grain did not, perhaps picked up during processing or storage as some fruit juices do. If it is not, rice milk would be close to 0. We rate shop-bought rice milk 2, "moderate", as a cautious estimate, and will revise it when it is measured directly.
Soy milk, measured in our tables, had no histamine in three samples, and almond and coconut milk, which the cereal-milk study did not cover, are rated 1. Any of these is a reasonable swap; your dietitian can help you choose one that also suits any allergies.
Questions about rice milk and histamine
Is rice milk low in histamine?
Rice itself had none, but rice milk was not measured in our sources, and a study of cereal-based plant milks reported histamine as their main amine. We rate shop-bought rice milk 2 as a cautious estimate.
Is rice milk better than oat milk for histamine?
We cannot tell them apart from the evidence: both are cereal milks, neither was measured on its own, and both grains had no histamine. We rate them the same.
Evidence behind this page
- Two samples of rice from the Spanish market had no detectable histamine, tyramine or cadaverine; putrescine averaged 2.4 mg/kg, and four other studies reported up to 1.2 mg/kg. 1
- Cereals pooled across 28 samples averaged 0.12 mg/kg of histamine, with a highest value of 0.89 mg/kg. 5
- Plant milks are made by water extraction, separation of the solids and pasteurisation or UHT treatment; their use is growing because of cow's milk allergy and intolerance and vegan diets; a study of plant milks from cereals and pseudo-cereals found histamine to be the most abundant of the amines measured. 2
- A 2024 clinical review gives rice as an example of a food low in histamine. 6
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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)