Occurrence of histamine in canned tuna fish from Iran

Histamine fish poisoning is a significant public health and safety concern and also a trade issue. Histamine was investigated in canned tuna fish in Qazvin province from Iran by ELISA method. Histamine was detected in 29.37 % canned tuna fish samples. The overall mean level of histamine was 8.59 ± 14.24 ppm and the concentration was between 2.51 and 74.56 ppm. Except four samples (2.50 %) of 47 positive canned tuna fish samples, histamine content of other positive samples was in compliance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) legislation (lower than 50 ppm). Most canned tuna fish contain histamine with high mean value was produced in summer (52.50 %) and spring (47.50 %) seasons, the mean levels of histamine were 6.30 and 12.62 ppm in these positive samples, respectively. The results of this study indicate that the most canned tuna fish produced in Qazvin province of Iran has histamine levels lower than the allowable limit suggested by FDA. Further studies should be carried out to investigate the presence of this toxin and other biogenic amines in different fish and sea food products.