A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association details the growing problem of histamine poisoning caused by tuna. Staruszkiewicz has been tracking histamine in fish for more than 30 years. So all the advice about careful preparation and thorough cooking are useless in this case, says Karen Becker, DVM, MPH, a CDC expert who is a co-author of the new study. Moreover, Becker says that more cases of histamine poisoning, also called scombroid poisoning, are being seen because more Americans are eating fish more often. According to Becker, there were only four cases of histamine poisoning in North Carolina from 1994 to 1997.
Histamine is the product of the decomposition of a chemical compound found in most fish.
The chemical, called histidine, begins to break down and form histamine as the tuna dies. He says the fish must be frozen within 6 hours or histamine will begin to form. Albacore, which is generally harvested in colder waters, has a slightly lower risk for histamine poisoning, says Staruszkiewicz. Generally, he says that all salt-water fish pose a histamine risk. In the study by Becker and colleagues, the tuna that caused poisonings had from 213 to 3,245 ppm, she says.