Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is made by fermenting cabbage with salt and letting bacteria do the work over weeks — that process is the reason it sits at the top of the histamine scale.

• Extended fermentation — the longer cabbage ferments, the more histamine accumulates, and traditional sauerkraut is typically left to ferment for weeks or months

• Comparison to fresh cabbage — plain fresh cabbage is actually quite low in histamine, which shows how much the fermentation process itself is responsible for the high levels in sauerkraut

Freshly shredded raw cabbage or coleslaw would be a very different experience for someone sensitive to histamine.