Are white beans high in histamine?
White beans are low in histamine: six samples tested in Spain had none, and they had the least putrescine of any legume measured. Baked beans in tomato sauce are a different case.
- 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, Spain 1 | Measured | No detectable histamine, tyramine or cadaverine in 6 samples; putrescine averaged 0.66 mg/kg. |
| Another study in the 2018 review 1 | Tyramine 2 mg/kg and putrescine 3 mg/kg; histamine not reported. | |
| Pooled legume samples, 2020 review 2 | No histamine in any of 11 legume samples; the review does not list which legumes. | |
| Clinical review, 2024 3 | Lists legumes among foods a low-histamine diet avoids, without naming beans. | |
| 10 published low-histamine diets (2021 review) 4 | White beans are not on the review's chart of foods the diets exclude. | |
| SIGHI food list 5 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| White beans sold in Spain 1 (Table 1, row 'Beans (white)') | 6 | not detected | putrescine mean 0.66 mg/kg (0.35–1.96); tyramine and cadaverine 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
The paper does not say whether the beans were bought dried or cooked, and none of our sources followed white beans in storage. Cooked beans are the part to watch: eat them within a day or freeze portions once cooled, because amines form as cooked food is kept and reheating does not remove them.
No histamine in 6 samples; putrescine averaged 0.66 mg/kg. (measured)
Not measured. Heat does not remove histamine, but the beans tested had none. (estimate)
Not measured. The sauce is tomato-based, and we rate tomato 2. (estimate)
Not measured; storage gives bacteria time to act. (estimate)
Why we rate white beans 0
White beans gave one of the lowest results of any food in the University of Barcelona team's survey of plant foods sold in Spain. Six samples were tested. None had histamine, tyramine or cadaverine, and putrescine, which turned up in every legume they tested, averaged only 0.66 mg/kg, with a highest sample of 1.96 mg/kg. That is the lowest average putrescine of any legume in the team's 2018 table, below peanuts (0.87 mg/kg), chickpeas (3.63 mg/kg) and lentils (8.19 mg/kg), and far below peas (34.28 mg/kg). One other study in the review reported tyramine at 2 mg/kg and putrescine at 3 mg/kg, still low, and gave no histamine figure.
The paper calls them only "beans (white)" and does not name a variety, so the figures stand for white beans in general rather than for cannellini, navy or haricot beans in particular. It also does not say whether they were bought dried or already cooked.
White beans have no bar on the 2021 chart of foods excluded by ten published low-histamine diets, and the earlier reviews we use do not single them out. A 2020 review from the same team found no histamine in any of the 11 legume samples it pooled. A 2024 clinical review lists legumes in general among the foods a low-histamine diet avoids, without naming beans. On the measurements, there is no histamine reason to avoid white beans.
We rate white beans 0, "low". Tinned white beans were not measured separately; heat does not remove histamine, but the beans tested had none, so we rate tinned ones 0 as an estimate. Baked beans are another matter. The beans are usually haricot beans, but the sauce is tomato-based, and we rate tomato 2 because histamine turns up in it regularly, so we rate baked beans 2 as an estimate. White beans make a good base for low-histamine soups, mash and salads. Cook them fresh, or freeze cooked beans in portions, because amines form as cooked food is stored.
Questions about white beans and histamine
Are baked beans high in histamine?
Baked beans were not measured. The white beans in them had no detectable histamine, but the tomato sauce is the uncertain part: we rate tomato 2, so we rate baked beans 2 as an estimate.
Are cannellini beans low histamine?
The study reports "white beans" without naming the variety. None of its six samples had detectable histamine, and we rate white beans, cannellini included, 0.
Evidence behind this page
- Six samples of white beans sold in Spain had no detectable histamine, tyramine or cadaverine; putrescine averaged 0.66 mg/kg (0.35–1.96). 1
- Another study in the 2018 review reported tyramine at 2 mg/kg and putrescine at 3 mg/kg in white beans. 1
- A 2020 review found no histamine in any of 11 pooled legume samples. 2
- A 2024 clinical review lists legumes among the foods a low-histamine diet avoids. 3
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)
- 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)
- 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)