Tertiary-butylhydroquinone

Tertiary-butylhydroquinone is notable for histamine, salicylate and nickel. Clear on FODMAPs, lactose, gluten, fructose, oligosaccharides, sorbitol, sucrose, tyramine and oxalates.

Tertiary-butylhydroquinone contains moderate levels of histamine. Tertiary-butylhydroquinone: TBHQ (E319) is the antioxidant of frying oils and fried snacks, where it holds up at temperatures the others do not. It is worth correcting one thing about it: TBHQ is authorised in the EU, with restricted uses and levels - the widespread claim that Europe bans it is wrong, and this is the rare additive where a reader can check the label and see the E number for themselves. Its place here rests on the same weak pseudoallergen evidence as the rest of the antioxidant group. None of them carries histamine. The antioxidants are on this page because the pseudoallergen elimination protocols remove them as a family, and the reactions reported are pseudoallergic rather than amine-mediated.

Tertiary-butylhydroquinone contains moderate levels of salicylate. Tertiary-butylhydroquinone: TBHQ is another phenolic antioxidant for fats and fried products, in the same salicylate-cross-reacting family as BHA and BHT.

Tertiary-butylhydroquinone contains only low levels of nickel. Tertiary-butylhydroquinone: TBHQ protects frying oils from going rancid, and it is made by hydrogenation - the reaction nickel catalyses better than anything else. That is where the trace comes from. For this additive there is no legal nickel ceiling at all. Amounts vary by brand and recipe, so always check the label of the exact product.