Is turkey high in histamine?
Fresh turkey is low in histamine: no histamine was found in 199 lab samples of fresh meat. Holiday leftovers rate higher, and deli turkey slices are mostly low when the pack has just been opened.
- Histamine
- Not detected
- Other amines
- Low
- 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, fresh meat (Spain) 1 | Measured | No detectable histamine in 199 samples of fresh meat. Turkey was not reported separately. |
| Lab measurements, cooked meat (Spain) 2 | Measured | Cooked meat products averaged 0.30 mg/kg in 48 samples; the highest had 4.80 mg/kg. Turkey slices were not reported separately. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 1 | 3 of 10 exclude fresh meat; cooked meat is not on the chart. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh meat sold in Spain (group; species not given) 1 (Table 1) | 199 | not detected | putrescine mean 1.35 mg/kg; cadaverine mean 5.02 mg/kg; tyramine mean 4.32 mg/kg |
| Cooked meat products sold in Spain (group; products not given) 2 (Table 1, row "Cooked meat") | 48 | mean 0.3 mg/kg, range nd–4.8 mg/kg | median not detected |
mg/kg = milligrams of histamine per kilogram of food. "Not detected" means below the laboratory's detection limit.
How freshness and processing change it
A whole turkey is the hardest form to keep fresh: it may thaw in the fridge for days, and the cooked bird is often eaten over several more. Amines can form at fridge temperatures and survive reheating. Cook the bird soon after it has thawed, and freeze what will not be eaten that day once it has cooled.
Fresh meat (group) had no detectable histamine in 199 samples. (measured)
Not measured; cold storage slows the bacteria that form amines. (estimate)
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)
Why we rate turkey 0
Turkey is a common replacement for ham and salami in sandwiches, and the measurements support the switch. Histamine in meat is made by bacteria while the meat is stored, and a Spanish survey of 199 samples of fresh meat found none in any of them. The survey does not say which animals were sampled, so turkey is covered by the fresh meat figure rather than measured on its own. Three of the ten low-histamine diets in a 2021 review exclude fresh meat, and the review expects no histamine in fresh or cooked meat as long as freshness and hygiene are guaranteed.
Sliced turkey from a deli counter or a pack falls in a different group, cooked meat products. A 2020 review by the same University of Barcelona team reports 48 samples of cooked meat 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. The table does not say which products were included, so we cannot tell you how many were turkey. That is low, but not zero, so we rate deli turkey from a freshly opened pack 1, "mostly low". A pack that has been open in the fridge for several days has had more time for amines to form, and we rate it 2 as an estimate.
The whole roast bird is the form that needs most care. A large frozen turkey is often thawed in the fridge over several days, roasted for a holiday meal and then eaten as leftovers for days afterwards. A 2018 review notes that amines can form at fridge temperatures, although more slowly than in warmer conditions, and the histamine that forms is not removed by reheating, because amines are heat-stable. Leftover roast turkey was not measured; we rate it 2, "moderate", as an estimate.
We rate fresh turkey 0, "low". Breast, thigh and mince bought fresh or frozen and eaten on the day they are cooked match what was measured. For the holiday bird, cook it soon after it has thawed, carve what will not be eaten that day and freeze it in portions once it has cooled. Ground turkey follows the same rule as other mince: cook it the day you buy it, or freeze it that day.
Questions about turkey and histamine
Is deli turkey low histamine?
Mostly, when the pack is fresh. Cooked meat products sold in Spain averaged 0.30 mg/kg of histamine across 48 samples, with a highest sample of 4.80 mg/kg; turkey was not reported separately. We rate a freshly opened pack 1 and a pack that has been open for several days 2, as an estimate.
Is leftover turkey high in histamine?
It was not measured. We rate it 2 as an estimate, because histamine forms in cooked meat kept in the fridge and is not removed by reheating. Turkey frozen in portions soon after the meal stays closer to fresh.
Is ground turkey low histamine?
Fresh ground turkey cooked the day you buy it is covered by the fresh meat measurement, which found no histamine in 199 samples, so we rate it 0. If you will not cook it that day, freeze it on the day of purchase.
Evidence behind this page
- Fresh meat sold in Spain had no detectable histamine across 199 samples, and three of ten published low-histamine diets exclude fresh meat. 1
- 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. 2
- Fresh and cooked meat are not expected to contain histamine as long as freshness and hygiene are guaranteed. 1
- Refrigeration delays amine formation, but amines have been reported to form at fridge temperatures (4–10 °C); amines are heat-stable. 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)