Papa Murphy's Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Papa Murphy's shredded parmesan is high in histamine. Parmesan spends many months maturing before it is ever shredded, and that long maturing is precisely when histamine builds up in a cheese.

Why papa murphy's shredded parmesan cheese is rated high

The statement here is parmesan cheese and salt, so the parmesan is doing all of the work. Parmesan is a hard cheese that is cultured and then matured for a long stretch, and that extended bacterial activity on a dense, protein-rich food is what drives histamine up. Length of maturing is the main thing separating a high cheese from a low one, and parmesan sits at the far end of that range. Shredding changes nothing: the aging is finished long before the cheese is turned into shreds.

What changes your risk

• The parmesan carries all of it — of the two published components, only the cheese matters. Salt is a seasoning, not a histamine source.
• The aging is already done — parmesan arrives at the counter fully matured, so there is no fresher batch of the same product to be had. The high level is built into the ingredient.
• A light scatter is still concentrated — parmesan gets used as a finishing cheese rather than a base layer, but it is dense and long-matured, so even a small amount is a high-histamine ingredient.
• How long a finished order sits warm — like any protein-rich dairy, a parmesan-topped pizza held warm for a long stretch gives bacteria more room to work on top of what the maturing already left.
• The oven will not bring it down — baking kills bacteria but does not clear histamine that formed over months of aging.

Lower-histamine alternatives

For a lower-histamine order at Papa Murphy's, Chicken, Onion Mix, and Zesty Herb Blend are the items on the lower side that we point to here. What is not worth reaching for is a milder or younger hard cheese as a stand-in, because a shorter-matured aged cheese is still an aged cheese. We are not naming a cheese-for-cheese substitute on this page, and that is a limit of what this list includes, not proof the counter has nothing lower.

How to lower the risk

Treat the shredded parmesan as the thing to decide about first, since it is the only component in the topping and it is high on its own. Nothing here is published as removable, so the practical move is what you build the rest of the order around: Chicken, Onion Mix, and Zesty Herb Blend keep the remainder on the lower-histamine side. If parmesan does go on, eat the pizza hot and soon rather than letting it sit warm.

Common questions

Is a small sprinkle of parmesan okay if I have histamine intolerance?

We cannot tell you where your own line is, and parmesan is high whether it is a light dusting or a heavy layer. It is a long-matured cheese, so the histamine is concentrated in whatever amount is there.

Does shredded parmesan have more histamine than a block?

The maturing sets the level, and that finishes before either form exists. Shredding does not add histamine, but it does not lower it either.

Is parmesan higher in histamine than feta?

Yes. Parmesan gets a far longer maturation, which is why it rates high while a brined, shorter-matured cheese like feta rates moderate.

Does cooking the parmesan on the pizza help?

No. Baking kills bacteria but leaves intact the histamine that already formed during aging.