Lindsay Green Olives

Yes, Lindsay Green Olives are high in histamine. Olives have to be cured before they are edible, and that curing plus the salt brine they sit in is exactly the kind of process that builds histamine.

Why lindsay green olives is rated high

Raw green olives are far too bitter to eat, so they go through a curing step to remove that bitterness, then get packed in a salted brine. That combination of curing and long soaking in brine gives bacteria time to work, and the label here even lists lactic acid, which points to that kind of processing. Cured, brined foods that sit in their liquid tend to run high in histamine, which is why these olives land on the high list rather than being a fresh, quick-picked food.

What changes your risk

• Curing is baked in — you cannot buy an uncured edible green olive, so the histamine-building step has already happened before the jar reaches you. There is no fresh version to reach for.
• Time in the brine — the longer olives sit in their salted liquid, the more chance histamine has to accumulate, so a jar that has been open and half-used in the fridge for weeks is not doing you any favors.
• Draining and rinsing — pouring off and rinsing the brine may cut some of the salt and surface liquid, but it does not remove histamine already inside the olive, so this is a small help at best.
• Portion — histamine adds up with how much you eat, so a large handful loads you more than a couple of olives, though with a high-histamine food less exposure overall is the safer path.
• Cooking them in — tossing olives into a hot dish does not lower their histamine; heat kills bacteria but leaves the histamine that already formed intact.

Lower-histamine alternatives

There is no truly low-histamine version of a cured olive, so if you are chasing that salty, savory bite, look at genuinely different foods instead. Fresh cucumber slices with a little olive oil and salt, or roasted fresh red bell pepper, can give you that briny-snack feeling without the curing. Plain olive oil itself is generally well tolerated and gives you the olive flavor without the fermented brine. If you want a salty garnish on a salad or pasta, a sprinkle of fresh herbs plus good olive oil is a safer route than reaching for olives or capers.

How to lower the risk

If you are cooking for a household that includes these olives, keep the jar sealed and cold, and don't let an opened jar linger, since brined foods sitting in liquid are exactly where histamine keeps company with bacteria. Draining and rinsing before serving trims the salt but should not be mistaken for making them low-histamine. For your own plate, treating these as an ingredient to skip rather than reduce is the cleaner call, and reaching for fresh vegetables and olive oil gives you similar flavors without the cured-brine problem.

Common questions

Are green olives lower in histamine than black olives?

Not reliably. Both green and black olives are cured and brined, and that curing is what drives the histamine up, so neither color is a safe choice on a strict low-histamine plan.

Does rinsing the olives make them okay?

Rinsing washes off some brine and salt from the surface, but histamine that formed during curing is inside the olive and rinsing will not remove it. It is a small help, not a fix.

Is the pimiento inside the olive a problem?

The minced pimiento is just sweet red pepper and is not the main issue here. The olive itself, because it is cured and brined, is the reason these run high.

Can I cook with these olives instead of eating them raw?

Cooking does not lower the histamine. Heat can kill bacteria but the histamine already formed during curing stays in the food, so a cooked dish with these olives is still high.