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Tyramine

In the body: With monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) antidepressants, even a little tyramine can spike blood pressure. In the few studies available, healthy people not taking them showed no harm from 600 mg in one meal.

Not rated by dose: a flag on 8 reviewed foods, among them Milk chocolate, avocado and sauerkraut. The list below has a line for each of 9 preparations.

For some people. Allergies, medicines and medical conditions: a flag for the people the source names, no wider.

See also: Tyramine and MAO inhibitors

All hazards

A figure for some people, not for everyone

It applies to the people this page is about, as the source names them. Who they are, and any figure for everyone else, is under Basis.

  • The agency’s figure6 mg tyramine per meal
  • Basisno-effect level: the most with no effect seen
    no-effect level per meal for classical (irreversible) MAO inhibitor users; 50 mg for third-generation monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) users and 600 mg for people on no MAOI (EFSA 2011)
  • Source EFSA 2011

Reviewed foods that carry it

8 reviewed foods carry it; none is rated by dose. A food counts once, as in the foods list: preparations sharing a page (raw and cooked, canned) count once; one with its own page counts apart. Below, one line for each of 9 preparations. 10 measurements in all. A preparation measured more than once gets one line, the measurement the dataset leads with or a stricter one, named beside the food; the others fold under it.

How often you can eat it

No food here is rated by dose. Each line says why it’s listed: a flag for the people the source names, advice on handling it, or context.

Flags and context, not rated by dose

  • Dark chocolate

    Worth knowing

    PARNATE · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Flagged for people taking Parnate, as its label puts it: the label lists chocolate among tyramine-rich foods to avoid. Measured tyramine is low: Spanish retail chocolate averaged 3.70 mg/kg (n = 15, maximum 5.81), about 0.15 mg per 40 g, and histamine was not detected; a study of cocoa-based products found 1.7-31.7 µg/g. The label and the measurements disagree in scale; the flag follows the label.

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: person-specific: people taking an MAO inhibitor (tranylcypromine label); the label names 'chocolate' without a type, so the flag applies to both milk and dark

  • Deli turkey breast

    Worth knowing

    0.89 mg
    per serving

    EFSA 2011 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Flagged for people taking monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) medicines, for whom 6 mg of tyramine per meal is the level of concern. This is a related-food figure: EFSA's 'other meat products' category (mean 16.2 mg/kg, 75 samples, maximum 292). For information, about 370 g at the mean, 90 g at the 95th percentile (67 mg/kg) and 21 g at the maximum would reach 6 mg.

    Intake: one 55 g reference serving a day, 70 kg adult · Level in the food: 16.2 mg/kg (mean (n 75; lower bound 16.1, upper bound 16.2; median 4.9, P95 67, max 292); PROXY category, n = 75)

    Measured on: EFSA 2011 EU, category 'other meat products (including cooked ham…)'; related food

  • Ham, sliced

    Worth knowing

    0.89 mg
    per serving

    EFSA 2011 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Flagged for people taking MAO inhibitors: EFSA (2011) gives 6 mg of tyramine per meal as a no-effect level. For information, 6 mg ÷ 16.2 mg/kg is 370 g at the mean, 90 g at the 95th percentile (67) and 21 g at the maximum (292); a 55 g serving carries 0.89 mg at the mean. These are category figures (cooked ham among other meat products). In the dry-cured ham category, a 55 g serving at the 95th percentile (149 mg/kg) is 8.2 mg, above the 6 mg level.

    Intake: one 55 g reference serving a day, 70 kg adult · Level in the food: 16.2 mg/kg (mean (n 75; lower bound 16.1, upper bound 16.2; median 4.9, P95 67, max 292), n = 75)

    Measured on: EFSA BIOHAZ 2011 EU occurrence data, category 'other meat products (including cooked ham…)'; a category figure

  • Milk chocolate

    Worth knowing

    PARNATE · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Flagged for people taking Parnate, as its label puts it: the label lists chocolate among tyramine-rich foods to avoid. Measured tyramine is low: Spanish retail chocolate averaged 3.70 mg/kg (n = 15, maximum 5.81), about 0.15 mg per 40 g, and histamine was not detected; a study of cocoa-based products found 1.7-31.7 µg/g. The label and the measurements disagree in scale; the flag follows the label.

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: person-specific: people taking an MAO inhibitor (tranylcypromine label); the label names 'chocolate' without a type, so the flag applies to both milk and dark

  • Pork sausage, pan-fried

    Worth knowing

    0.888 mg
    per serving
    tyramine per 55 g at the mean (3.69 mg at P95; 16.1 mg at the max)

    EFSA 2011 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Flagged for people on monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) drugs. EFSA's no-effect level per meal is 600 mg tyramine for people not on MAOIs, 50 mg on third-generation MAOIs, 6 mg on classical MAOIs. Grams use EFSA's 'Other meat products' category (cooked ham, mortadella-type sausages), not fresh sausage: at the mean of 16.15 mg/kg, 371 g reach 6 mg; 90 g at the 95th percentile (67 mg/kg); 21 g at the maximum (292 mg/kg). A 55 g serving at the mean is 0.89 mg, 15% of that; fermented sausage at its mean (136 mg/kg) is 7.5 mg, above it.

    Intake: one 55 g cooked serving a meal · Level in the food: 16.15 mg/kg (mean (n = 75; median 4.9, P95 67, max 292), n = 75)

    Measured on: EFSA 2011 Table 11, sub-category "Other meat products" (cooked ham, mortadella-type sausages), mean 16.1 (lower bound) to 16.2 (upper bound) mg/kg, 27% non-detect; NOT fresh pork sausage; fermented sausages (n = 369): mean 136, median 99, P95 397, max 1,740 mg/kg

  • Sauerkraut

    Worth knowing

    2.53 mg
    per serving
    highest retail sample

    openFDA drug labels: Nardil · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Flagged for people taking monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) antidepressants: the US labels for phenelzine (Nardil), tranylcypromine (Parnate) and isocarboxazid (Marplan) list sauerkraut among foods to avoid. EFSA no-effect levels per meal: 600 mg tyramine for healthy people, 50 mg on third-generation MAOIs, 6 mg on classical MAOIs. 30 g at the highest retail value carries 2.5 mg (42% of the 6 mg line); 100 g 8.4 mg; 250 g 21 mg.

    Intake: one 30 g serving; also 250 g and 100 g · Level in the food: 37.3 mg/kg (mean, n = 14)

    Measured on: food-specific, retail: 14 Polish samples 6.87-84.42 mg/kg; Walker 1996 7.75 mg per 250 g; Gajewska 1991 up to 8.0 mg/100 g; EFSA class mean 45-47.4 mg/kg

  • Soy sauce

    Worth knowing

    PARNATE · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Flagged for people on classical MAO inhibitors: the label of the drug tranylcypromine (Parnate, 2025) names soy sauce among foods to avoid. This is a label warning, not a measured dose; the measured tyramine amounts are on the separate tyramine line.

    Intake: one tablespoon (15 mL, 16 g) a day, 70 kg adult

    Measured on: Drug label (PARNATE, tranylcypromine), DailyMed SPL set b72d8187..., published 2025-07-07: soy sauce named among foods to avoid.

    1 other measurement of this food
    1. Korea 2021, 10 brands measured

      Not rated yet

      0.32 mg
      per serving
      tyramine per tablespoon (16 g) at the median

      Shi 2023 · grade A

      How it’s rated

      Not rated: for people on classical MAO inhibitors, EFSA's 2011 no-effect level is 6 mg tyramine per meal. A tablespoon of soy sauce carries 0.32 mg at the median of 10 Korean brands to 1.83 mg at the highest, 5% to 31% of that level, and 52 g of the highest brand would reach it. This is a person-specific threshold, so no grams-to-limit rating is made.

      Intake: one tablespoon (15 mL, 16 g) a day, 70 kg adult · Level in the food: 20.05 mg/kg (median of 10 commercial brands (min below quantification limit, max 114.41), n = 10)

      Measured on: Same Korean 2021 brand set as the histamine row.

  • Black tea, brewed

    Not rated yet

    Sanchez perez2021 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    The two sources disagree and the second does not say whether it is leaf or beverage, so no per-cup figure is made. Person-specific (MAOI) flag only; no MAOI guidance names tea in the sources read.

    Intake: one 250 mL (250 g) cup a day, 70 kg adult

    Measured on: Spizzirri 2016: tyramine not detected in any of 14 black-tea infusions or leaves. Sanchez-Perez 2021 Table 1: 'Tea' n = 9, tyramine 5.07 (3.80) mg/kg or L, ND-10.08, basis (leaf or beverage) not stated

  • Avocado, raw

    Context

    PubMed 7297422 · grade B

    How it’s rated

    One case report of hypertensive crisis with tranylcypromine after avocados (Generali 1981, abstract only); measured tyramine is low (~0.05 mg per 30 g, max 5.44 mg/kg), so the mechanism is not established by the amine data.

    Intake: not applicable (flag) · Level in the food: 1.81 mg/kg (mean (standard deviation 2.06; max 5.44), n = 5)

    Measured on: person-specific: MAO inhibitor therapy

Sources