Papa Murphy's Cheddar Cheese

Yes, Papa Murphy's cheddar cheese is high in histamine. It is cheddar, and cheddar is aged by design, so the histamine builds during the weeks or months of aging that make it taste like cheddar in the first place.

Why papa murphy's cheddar cheese is rated high

This topping is short and simple: cheddar cheese and salt. The salt is not the issue. Cheddar starts as ordinary milk, which is low in histamine, and then cultures go to work on it and it sits and ages. That aging is bacterial activity on a protein-rich food, which is the main way histamine gets made in the first place, and it is also exactly what turns bland curd into cheddar. So there is no version of cheddar that skips the part that raises histamine. Un-aged, young fresh cheeses sit lower for the same reason, because they never go through that stage. Cheddar does, which is why this one lands high.

What changes your risk

• The cheddar is the entire story — the topping is cheddar cheese and salt, so there is no other component sharing the load. Whatever this contributes to a pizza comes from the cheese.
• Aging, not the milk — the milk this starts from is not the problem. The months of culturing and aging that follow are where the histamine builds.
• Sharper usually means older — longer-aged cheddar tends to run higher, though the chain does not publish how long any given batch aged, so treat it as cheddar and leave it there.
• Baking does not undo it — heat kills bacteria, but it does not remove histamine that already formed. Melted cheddar on a baked pizza carries what the block already had.
• A topped pizza left sitting — cheese is protein-rich, so a pizza that sits out warm rather than staying cold can add on top of what the cheddar already brings.

Lower-histamine alternatives

The lower-histamine components we can point you to at Papa Murphy's are Chicken, Onion Mix, and Zesty Herb Blend. None of those is a cheese, so they do not fill the same role, and we are not pointing you to a cheese swap on this page. If you want the savory, salty note that cheddar was doing, the Zesty Herb Blend and the Onion Mix are the two lower items here that come closest.

How to lower the risk

Papa Murphy's is a build-to-order counter, so cheddar is a component that goes on by choice rather than something baked into a fixed recipe. Nothing is published as removable from the cheddar topping itself, which is really just the cheese and salt. If you are building around it, the lower items available to build with are Chicken, Onion Mix, and Zesty Herb Blend. Because this is take-and-bake, get the pizza cold quickly and bake it rather than letting a cheese-topped pizza sit out at room temperature for a long stretch.

Common questions

Is cheddar cheese high in histamine?

Yes. Cheddar is an aged cheese, and the aging process is what builds histamine in it, so it sits on the high side for people with histamine intolerance.

Does mild cheddar have less histamine than sharp?

Milder cheddar is generally younger cheddar, and less aging tends to mean less histamine. That said, all cheddar is aged, this topping rates high, and the chain does not publish an aging time for it.

Does baking the pizza lower the histamine in the cheese?

No. Baking kills bacteria, which is a food-safety benefit, but it does not remove histamine that formed while the cheese was aging. Melted cheddar carries the same amount as the block it came from.

What can I put on a Papa Murphy's pizza instead?

The lower items we can point to here are Chicken, Onion Mix, and Zesty Herb Blend. They are not cheeses, so they will not melt or stretch like cheddar, but they are the lower-histamine components on this list.