Are sesame seeds high in histamine?
Sesame seeds and tahini are probably mostly low in histamine, but neither has been measured: both are sold dry or as a plain paste and are not fermented.
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 10 published low-histamine diets (2021 review) 1 | Sesame is not on the review's chart of excluded foods, which has a bar for nuts but none for seeds. | |
| Review of low-histamine diets, 2020 2 | No seeds appear among the foods excluded by the diets it compared. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
How freshness and processing change it
Sesame seeds and tahini were not measured, and no study we use followed amines in them during storage. Hummus and other dips made with tahini are moist foods; eat them soon after making or opening, since amines can keep forming in plant foods stored in the fridge. Toasting does not remove histamine.
Not measured. Sold dry and not fermented. (estimate)
Not measured. Ground sesame seeds, not fermented. (estimate)
Why we rate sesame seeds 1
Sesame seeds have no histamine measurements in the studies we use, and neither does tahini, the paste made from them. The papers report nothing for sesame: no histamine, and none of the other amines that are often used to explain why low-histamine lists exclude a food. This page is an estimate from how sesame is produced, and the rating will change if measurements appear.
Sesame seeds are harvested, dried and sold dry, often hulled and sometimes toasted. Tahini is those seeds ground into a paste. Neither is fermented, and fermentation, along with poor storage of fish, is how the highest histamine levels end up in food, through bacteria converting the amino acid histidine. Toasting does not remove histamine, which is heat-stable, but there is no known route for a dry seed to build up a high level. Black and white sesame were not measured separately and are rated the same.
Sesame does not appear in the published diets we use. The 2021 review's chart of foods excluded by ten low-histamine diets has a bar for nuts, excluded by two diets, but none for seeds, and an earlier comparison by the same University of Barcelona team lists no seeds among excluded foods.
For many people sesame arrives in a dish rather than on its own, and the dish can matter more than the seed. Hummus combines tahini with chickpeas and lemon juice. In the team's own survey, four chickpea samples and three lemons had no detectable histamine. Hummus is a moist food, though, and a tub kept in the fridge for days after opening is a less certain choice than one made or opened the same day, because the team's 2018 review notes that amines can keep forming in plant foods during refrigerated storage.
We rate sesame seeds and tahini 1, "mostly low", as an estimate. Nothing about the dry seed or the plain paste points to histamine, but neither has been tested, and we keep 0 for foods that have been tested and found to have none. Sesame oil is a different product and was not measured either. Sesame is also a common food allergen; an allergy is a different condition from histamine intolerance and has its own tests.
Questions about sesame seeds and histamine
Is tahini low histamine?
It has not been measured. Tahini is ground sesame seeds and is not fermented, so there is no known route to a high level, and we rate it 1, "mostly low", as an estimate.
Is hummus OK on a low-histamine diet?
Hummus was not measured. Its main ingredients, chickpeas and lemon, had no detectable histamine in testing, and tahini is rated 1 as an estimate. Eat it soon after making or opening rather than keeping it for days.
Evidence behind this page
- None of the studies we use reports histamine or other amines for sesame seeds or tahini; the only seed measured was sunflower seeds. 41
- Histamine in food forms mainly when bacteria decarboxylate the amino acid histidine, and the highest levels are found in fermented foods and fish that is not fresh. 21
- Chickpeas (4 samples) and lemons (3 samples) sold in Spain had no detectable histamine. 4
- Plant foods should be eaten as fresh as possible, since histamine and other amines can keep forming during refrigerated storage. 4
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)
- 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)
- 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)