The histamine content of commercial pet foods.

The histamine contents of a range of North American commercial pet foods and pet food ingredients were determined by a spectrofluorometric technique. The change in histamine content of open cans of pet food stored in a refrigerator or at room temperature was also investigated. The histamine content of the pet foods examined ranged from a low of 0.16 microg/g in a liquid critical care diet to a high of 65.5 microg/g in a canned fish diet. The amount of histamine in the foods tested was insufficient to cause histamine toxicosis but it cannot be excluded that some of the foods contained sufficient histamine to cause idiosyncratic reactions in histamine-sensitive cats. Storage of opened cans of pet food, either under refrigeration or at room temperature, did not significantly increase the histamine content of most pet foods.