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Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Public Health Risks of Histamine and other Biogenic Amines from Fish and Fishery Products

23-27 July 2012. Rome, Italy

Year of publication 2013

Pages 138 p.

Author Office of Assistant Director-General (Agriculture Department)

Product type Meeting

ISBN 978-92-5-107849-5 (print)

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Scombrotoxin fi sh poisoning (SFP) (oft en called “histamine poisoning”) is caused by ingestion of certain species of marine fi sh that contain high levels of histamine and possibly other biogenic amines. Codex Alimentarius through its standards and guidelines aims to provide countries with a basis on which to manage issues such as histamine formation. Several of the existing standards include maximum levels for histamine in diff erent fi sh and fi shery products. Th e need to harmoniz e such limits and produce the associated guidance on the relevant sampling plans and other aspects of sampling resulted in the 31st Session of the Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products (CCFFP), which agreed to look into the issue of histamine limits in more detail. Th e Committee established an electronic Working Group in order to facilitate this work and identifi ed the need for scientifi c advice from FAO and WHO to support this work. FAO and WHO convened an expert meeting at the FAO headquarters in Rome from 23 to 27 July 2012 to address the public health risks of histamine and other biogenic amines from fi sh and fi shery products. Th is report summarizes the outcome of that meeting.

Meeting Session Number Sess. 1

Language English

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    Scombrotoxin fish poisoning (SFP), often called “histamine poisoning”, is caused by ingestion of certain species of marine fish with high levels of histamine and possibly other biogenic amines. In some parts of the world, SFP is a major cause of food-borne illness. The fish species involved contain high levels of free histidine in their tissue and include tuna and other pelagic species like mackerel, sardines, and anchovy. When these species are subjected to temperature abuse during and/or after harvest, bacterial decarboxylation of histidine leads to histamine formation. Other biogenic amines produced as a result of bacterial growth in fish may potentiate histamine’s effect. The full set of Highlights on FAO food safety and quality activities is available at the following Url: http://www.fao.org/3/a-au638e/index.html.
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    Joint FAO/WHO Literature Review: Histamine in Salmonids 2018
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    Histamine is a naturally occurring substance that is derived from the decarboxylation of amino acids. It can be present in certain foods containing free histidine. Certain bacteria produce the enzyme histidine decarboxylase during growth. This enzyme reacts with free histidine, a naturally occurring amino acid that is present in higher proportions in certain species of fish, particularly those of the Scombridae and Scomberesocidae families. The result is the formation of histamine. Histamine poisoning is often referred to as scombrotoxin fish poisoning (SFP) because of the frequent association of the illness with the consumption of spoiled scombroid fish. SFP is most commonly linked to fish that have a high level of free histidine. Histamine formation is then dependent on the time/temperature conditions under which the fish is handled. Even in fish with high levels of free histidine, the available data suggest that high histamine levels are as a result of gross time/temperature abuse during handling and storage. Compared with scombroid fish, which have free histidine levels ranging from approximately 5 000 mg/kg to 20 000 mg/kg, most species in the Salmonidae family have less than 1000 mg/kg histidine. Nevertheless some concerns have been raised about the potential risk of SPF or SPF-like illness linked to Salmonidae, considering these fish are globally traded with 80% of global production entering international trade. This report describes the methods and findings of a comprehensive literature review undertaken to assess the scientific evidence regarding the risk of histamine development in fish of the family Salmonidae and the potential impact for human health.
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