Is white bread high in histamine?
White bread is low in histamine: white bread sold in Spain had no histamine and none of the other amines tested, and a 2024 clinical review gives bread as an example of a low-histamine food.
- 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, putrescine or cadaverine in white bread. |
| Other studies in the 2018 review 1 | Measured | Putrescine of 1.1 to 1.8 mg/kg in white bread, and cadaverine of 2.35 mg/kg in one study of two samples; histamine was not reported. |
| Review of low-histamine diets, 2020 2 | Measured | 28 cereal samples averaged 0.12 mg/kg of histamine, none above 0.89 mg/kg. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 3 | Bread is not on the review's chart of foods the diets exclude. | |
| Clinical review, 2024 4 | Gives bread as an example of a food low in histamine. | |
| SIGHI food list 5 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| White bread sold in Spain 1 (Table 3) | 2 | not detected | putrescine, tyramine and cadaverine not detected |
| Cereals (group) 2 (Table 1) | 28 | mean 0.12 mg/kg, range nd–0.89 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
The Spanish samples had no histamine when bought. Day-old, frozen and toasted bread were not measured. Bread that has gone mouldy belongs in the bin for food-safety reasons that have nothing to do with histamine.
No histamine or other amines detected in white bread. (measured)
Not measured. The same bread, heated; toasting is not a fermentation step. (estimate)
Not measured. Made with a bacterial starter; see the sourdough bread page. (estimate)
Why we rate white bread 0
White bread is the plainest test of a question many people ask: does bread add histamine? On the evidence we have, ordinary shop-bought white bread does not. A University of Barcelona team tested white bread sold in Spain and found no histamine, tyramine, putrescine or cadaverine at all. It is the only grain product in their tables with none of the four amines detected.
The catch is that only two loaves were tested. Three other studies collected in the team's 2018 review add some context. They reported putrescine in white bread of 1.1 mg/kg in ten samples, 1.5 to 1.8 mg/kg in three, and 1.32 mg/kg in two, the last with 2.35 mg/kg of cadaverine. None of them reported histamine. The pooled cereal figure from the team's 2020 review covers 28 samples: histamine averaged 0.12 mg/kg, and the highest sample had 0.89 mg/kg.
The yeast question comes up because bread dough is fermented before baking. Our sources do not discuss baker's yeast, and the 2018 review does not say how the tested loaves were raised, so we can only report what was measured: white bread bought in shops had no detectable histamine. The bacteria that form histamine in cheese, cured sausage, wine and sauerkraut are a different matter. The team's 2020 review says some lactic acid bacteria can form histamine, depending on the species and strain, and sourdough relies on those bacteria as well as yeast. It has its own page.
The published diets agree with the measurements. Bread is not on the 2021 chart of foods excluded by ten low-histamine diets, and a 2024 clinical review gives bread as an example of a food low in histamine.
We rate white bread 0, "low". Rolls, baguettes and toast made the same way fit this rating. What goes on the bread matters more: dry-fermented sausage averaged 21.57 mg/kg of histamine in the Spanish survey, and cured or grated cheese 33.10 mg/kg. Fresh chicken, egg or freshly made spreads keep a sandwich low. White bread contains gluten, which matters for coeliac disease, a separate condition; this rating says nothing about gluten.
Questions about white bread and histamine
Is yeast high in histamine?
Yeast itself was not measured in the studies we use, and they do not discuss it. What was measured is bread: white and wholemeal bread sold in Spain had no detectable histamine.
What breads are low in histamine?
White and wholemeal bread had no detectable histamine in Spanish tests. Sourdough and most rye bread were not measured and are made with bacterial starters that can form histamine, so we rate them moderate as estimates.
Evidence behind this page
- White bread sold in Spain had no detectable histamine, tyramine, putrescine or cadaverine (Table 3). 1
- Other studies reported putrescine in white bread of 1.1 mg/kg (10 samples), 1.5–1.8 mg/kg (3 samples) and 1.32 mg/kg with 2.35 mg/kg of cadaverine (2 samples), and did not report histamine (Table 3, studies [48], [50] and [40]). 1
- Across 28 cereal samples, histamine averaged 0.12 mg/kg, with a maximum of 0.89 mg/kg. 2
- A 2024 clinical review gives bread as an example of a food low in histamine. 4
- Some lactic acid bacteria form histamine in cheese, fermented meat, fermented vegetables and fermented drinks; the ability depends on the species and strain (Section 3). 2
- Dry-fermented sausages averaged 21.57 mg/kg of histamine, cured, semi-cured and grated cheese 33.10 mg/kg, and preserved and semi-preserved fish 10.03 mg/kg in the Spanish survey (Table 1). 3
- Bread does not appear among the foods charted as excluded by ten published low-histamine diets. 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)
- 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)
- 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)