Is ackee high in histamine liberators?

Histamine Liberators status

No data

Find out whether ackee is high or low in histamine liberators, see its exact rating, and check its FODMAP, salicylate, oxalate and diet compatibility all in one place.

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Compare ackee across criteria

HistamineSafe FODMAPsAvoid FructansNo data GOSNo data FructoseNo data PolyolsNo data

Sensitivity notes

Why histamine liberators food checker matters

Histamine liberators are foods that don't contain much histamine themselves but can trigger your body to release stored histamine. This can cause similar symptoms to high-histamine foods in sensitive individuals.

Avoid histamine liberators alongside high-histamine foods
Common liberators include citrus, strawberries, tomatoes, and chocolate
Your tolerance may vary based on overall histamine load

Triggers

HistamineSafe

Histamine Liberators

FODMAPs

Fructans

GOS

Fructose

Polyols

GlutenSafe

LactoseSafe

Dairy ProteinsSafe

NightshadesSafe

SalicylatesModerate

Oxalates

NickelSafe

SulfitesSafe

NitritesSafe

GlutamatesSafe

TyramineSafe

CaffeineSafe

LectinSafe

Low Fermentation

Diets

GlutenFit

InflammationAvoid

VeganFit

VegetarianFit

Paleo AIPFit

MediterraneanAvoid

DASH DietAvoid

EoE CompatibleFit

FODMAPsAvoid

Low FermentationAvoid

Priority ingredient notes

Serving size, prep, and portion notes for ackee

Ackee is the one fruit on this site where ripeness is a safety rule rather than a taste preference. Unripe ackee contains hypoglycin A at roughly 100 to 111 mg per 100 g of aril, and eating it causes Jamaican vomiting sickness: violent vomiting followed by a profound crash in blood sugar, because the toxin blocks fatty acid oxidation and shuts down the liver pathway that keeps glucose up between meals. Severe cases progress to seizures, coma and death, and children are the most vulnerable. Once the pod ripens and splits open by itself on the tree, hypoglycin A in the aril falls away sharply to under 10 mg per 100 g, which is why properly ripened, properly cleaned ackee has been a Jamaican staple for centuries. The United States does not treat this casually either: FDA Import Alert 21-11 allows detention of ackee at the border unless the producer has qualified for the Green List, with 100 ppm hypoglycin A as the ceiling for imported product. On the ordinary food chemistry triggers ackee is quiet. It grades A for histamine, tyramine, gluten, lactose, free glutamates, sulfites, nitrites, nickel and nightshades, with a moderate C for salicylates. It also grades C for anti inflammatory value and C for DASH and Mediterranean patterns, which reflects how unusually fatty it is for a fruit rather than any chemical trigger.

Watch for

Never eat ackee that has not opened naturally on the tree. Jamaicans describe the safe stage as the pod smiling or yawning. Forcing a closed pod open does nothing to the toxin, and a pod that refuses to split within a few days is thrown away, not prised apart / The black seeds are toxic at every stage of ripeness and are never eaten. Discard them, and also strip off the pink or red fibrous membrane (the raphe) that joins the seed to the yellow aril, because it holds toxin the aril has already shed / Only the yellow aril is food, and it is boiled before use. Throw the cooking water away rather than using it as a base for anything, since the traditional boil is part of how the dish is made safe / Symptoms of ackee poisoning are not an intolerance reaction to ride out. Repeated vomiting, drowsiness or confusion after eating ackee, especially in a child, is a medical emergency and needs urgent care for hypoglycaemia / Moderate at C for salicylates, so worth logging if you already react across salicylate rich foods, though this is a minor footnote next to the ripeness rule / Very high in fat for a fruit, which is where the C grades for anti inflammatory value and for DASH and Mediterranean patterns come from. Ackee and saltfish also carries a heavy salt load from the salt cod rather than from the ackee itself

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