Subway Provolone Cheese

Yes, Subway's provolone is high in histamine. Provolone is an aged cheese, and aging is exactly the process where bacteria build histamine in dairy, so this topping runs high no matter how fresh the sandwich is.

Why subway provolone cheese is rated high

Subway's published ingredient list for this cheese is about as simple as dairy gets: cultured pasteurized milk, salt, and enzymes. Pasteurizing the milk does not stop what happens next. Cultures are added, the curd is formed, and then the cheese ages, and throughout that aging the bacteria in the cheese act on the milk proteins and histamine accumulates. That is why aged cheeses as a group sit high on histamine lists, and provolone is firmly in that group. Salt and enzymes are standard cheesemaking ingredients and are not histamine drivers themselves. The aging is.

What changes your risk

• The provolone carries all of it — there is nothing else on the list to point to. Cultured milk, salt, and enzymes make an aged cheese, and the aged cheese is the driver.
• Aging happened before it arrived — the histamine in provolone forms during the weeks or months it ages at the producer. A freshly opened sleeve of slices at Subway is not a lower version; it is simply aged cheese that has just been unwrapped.
• Toasting does not help — melting the cheese on a toasted sub changes the texture but does not remove histamine that is already there.
• Number of slices — a sub with extra cheese carries more than a standard portion, but even a single slice is a high topping rather than a safe one.
• Time in the cold well — the slices sit chilled at the counter through service. Because provolone is already high from aging, holding time at the counter is a smaller factor than the cheese itself.

Lower-histamine alternatives

On Subway's lower-histamine list, the items are Cucumbers, Lettuce, and Red Onions. None of them is a cheese, and there is no lower-histamine cheese to point you to at Subway; the honest answer is that the lower route is a sub built without provolone and with more of those vegetables for crunch and moisture. If what you miss is the richness of melted cheese, there is not a great low-histamine substitute on this menu.

How to lower the risk

Subway is a build-to-order counter, so you pick each component as the sandwich is made. Simply do not choose provolone when asked about cheese, and load the sub with Cucumbers, Lettuce, and Red Onions instead. If you are ordering for a group, say up front that your sub has no cheese so it does not get added out of habit, because once the slices are on and the sub is toasted, the cheese has melted into the bread and cannot really be taken back off.

Common questions

Is provolone lower in histamine than other aged cheeses?

Not reliably. Provolone is aged, and aged cheeses as a group run high, so this index rates Subway's provolone as high.

Does toasting the sub reduce the histamine in the cheese?

No. Heat does not break down the histamine that built up while the cheese aged; it just melts it.

Is there a low-histamine cheese option at Subway?

No. The lower-histamine items at Subway are Cucumbers, Lettuce, and Red Onions, and none of them is a cheese.

Why is the cheese high if the milk is pasteurized?

Pasteurization happens before the cultures are added and before aging. The histamine builds during the aging that follows, so pasteurized milk does not make the finished provolone low.