Method for Determination of Histamine in Food by LC-MS/MS

In Japan, a criterion value of histamine residue in food is not clearly defined and there is no official test method. We examined histamine in fish and fish products according to the food sanitation test guideline (fluorescence derivatization of histamine with dansyl chloride and quantification by LC-FL: the LC-FL method). Positive samples were confirmed by determining dansylated histamine using our developed LC-MS/MS procedure (the LC-MS/MS method) when histamine was detected. Validation was earned out according to the validation test guideline using fresh fish. Recovery tests of histamine from fresh fish spiked at the level of 20 ppm were carried out. The limit of quantification was 5 ppm. The results confirmed that our LC-MS/MS method is applicable for the inspection of fish and fish products. This LC-MS/MS method has a lower false-positive ratio and a higher selectivity than the LC-FL method.