Is ackee high in nickel?

Nickel status

Safe

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

Related checkers

Compare ackee across criteria

HistamineSafe Histamine LiberatorsNo data FODMAPsAvoid FructansNo data GOSNo data FructoseNo data

Sensitivity notes

Why nickel food checker matters

Nickel is a metal found in many foods including chocolate, nuts, and leafy greens. People with nickel allergy (often showing as contact dermatitis) may also react to dietary nickel, causing skin and digestive symptoms.

Avoid cooking acidic foods in stainless steel cookware
Canned foods often have higher nickel content
Chocolate, nuts, and legumes are common high-nickel foods

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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