A Survey of Histamine Levels in Sausages ^{1, 2}

A survey of 390 sausage samples of nine different types obtained at the retail level revealed the following mean histamine levels on a mg/100 g basis: bologna -0.55, cooked salami -0.83, kosher salami -0.50, beef summer sausage -1.07, thuringer-cervelat -2.35, thuringer -1.19. Italian dry salami Brand A - 24.5, Brand B - 2.14, Brand C - 19.1. pepperoni Brand D - 1.03, Brand B - 1.42, Brand C - 38.1, and chorizo - 2.29. The dry, fermented sausages (Italian dry salami and pepperoni) had higher and more variable histamine levels than either the cooked or the semi-dry sausages. The brand specific differences seen in Italian dry salami and pepperoni, which are significant at the 0.005 level, would suggest that proper control of the natural fermentations could largely prevent histamine accumulation. These differences also indicate that the microflora of each processing plant influences the microflora and the resultant histamine levels of the naturally fermented sausage. Since the semi-dry sausages (beef summer sausage, thuringer-cervelat, and thuringer) are fermented by addition of commercial lactic acid starter cultures, these bacteria must produce only small amounts of histamine. The presence of rather high histamine levels in some samples of Italian dry salami and pepperoni suggests that the potential exists for formation of toxic levels of histamine in dry, fermented sausage if any gross mishandling of the product occurs.