How to Avoid Histamine Poisoning

Histamine poisoning, while rare, can occur to anyone who eats contaminated fish or cheese products. Bacteria growth on these foods can cause histamine levels to build up and cause an allergic reaction. Most histamine poisoning consists of hives, a rash, burning and itching easily treated with an antihistamine.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Buy fish from a market or dealer you trust. Make sure they refrigerate their fish from the time it's caught to when sold. The histamine grows rapidly if the fish isn't properly refrigerated.
2. Be suspicious of tuna, sardines and other canned fish that is dull or strange color or has an extremely pungent odor not normally associated with seafood. All fish, and even some cheese, can be laced with histamine, so be alert for any oddities before and after you prepare it.
3. Throw away any fish that has a metallic taste or loaded with pepper. Both these tastes may be a sign of histamine poisoning.
4. Look at any fish you prepare after it is cooked. Dispose of any fish with a honey-combed appearance may be contaminated with histamine.
5. Taste, smell and look at your Swiss cheese before consuming large amounts. While rare, Swiss cheese can become contaminated with histamine during processing.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't panic, if you think you have histamine poisoning. Take an antihistamine and see a doctor if symptoms to don't go away after a few hours. Most cases appear very soon after eating contaminated fish or cheese, and clear up just as quickly within an hour.