Hummus: low on the glycemic scale on its own, with a listeria question

Hummus tests very low on the glycemic scale. In 10 healthy adults it came out at a glycemic index of 15 and an insulin index of 52, and the glucose rise after it was about four times smaller than after white bread. In that same trial, adding hummus to white bread did not lower the combined response, so the low index belongs to hummus eaten on its own. Eat it with pita or crackers and you are back to the bread. That is one small trial of ten people, so read the exact figures as a first measurement rather than a settled one. A second trial gives the everyday version. Among 39 adults, a 240 kcal afternoon snack of hummus and pretzels cut later dessert snacking by about 20 percent against having no snack, and left afternoon blood glucose about 5 percent lower than granola bars did. One study on this page did not use hummus off a shelf. Its chickpeas were processed so the cell walls stayed intact, a laboratory version of the food, and the lower insulin it produced at the same 27 g of starch belongs to that version rather than to the tub in your fridge.

The numbers, per 100 g

What your body absorbs

• In 15 healthy adults, hummus made from intact chickpea cells produced lower insulin and GIP than hummus from ruptured cells at the same 27 g of starch, and its starch digested more slowly in vitro. — 15 healthy participants, acute crossover with 27 g of starch per meal (n = 15) Evidence B source
  Insulin and GIP significantly lower after the intact cell meal (P < 0.02 and P < 0.03), slower in vitro starch digestion over 90 minutes

What it does to your health

• Measured in 10 healthy adults, hummus had a glycemic index of 15 and an insulin index of 52, with a postprandial glucose response about four times smaller than white bread. — 10 healthy adults, 11 breakfast test meals each over 15 weeks (n = 10) Evidence B source
  GI 15 +/- 3 and II 52 +/- 13, both significantly lower than white bread (P < 0.05)
• In 39 healthy adults, a 240 kcal afternoon snack of hummus and pretzels cut later dessert snacking by about 20% against no snack and lowered afternoon blood glucose by about 5% against granola bars. — 39 adults aged 26 +/- 1 years, three 6-day snack patterns in randomised order (n = 39) Evidence B source
  Dessert snacking about -20% vs no snack (P = 0.001) and vs bars (P < 0.001), appetite indices about -70% vs no snack, afternoon glucose about -5% vs bars (P < 0.05)

Safety, limits and interactions

• In a US case-control study of 169 people with listeriosis, eating hummus prepared in a commercial establishment carried 5.7 times the odds of infection (95% CI 1.7 to 19.1). — 169 people with culture-confirmed listeriosis and 376 matched controls in 9 US states, 2000 to 2003 (n = 545) Evidence C source
  Odds ratio 5.7 (95% CI 1.7 to 19.1) for hummus prepared in a commercial establishment, 2.6 (1.4 to 5.0) for melon
• A 17-year-old had repeated anaphylaxis after eating crackers and hummus before exercise, and testing identified chickpea as the allergen. — one 17-year-old girl with food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (n = 1) Evidence D source
  Skin prick test and specific IgE confirmed chickpea as the causative allergen

Who this works differently for

• Among 39 adults with eosinophilic esophagitis on an elimination diet, higher intake of hummus and legumes went with higher eosinophil counts in the oesophagus after 6 weeks. — 39 Dutch adults with eosinophilic esophagitis, 3-day food diaries at baseline and after 6 weeks (n = 39) Evidence C source
  Hummus and legumes significantly positively related to peak eosinophil count after the dietary intervention (p < .05)

The bottom line

The safety findings are the part of this page worth reading twice. In a US study of 169 people with confirmed listeriosis, hummus prepared in a commercial establishment carried 5.7 times the odds of infection, with a wide margin around that figure, from 1.7 to 19.1. That design compares people who were already ill with people who were not, so it can point at a food without proving the food did it. What it points at is handling in a shop, not chickpeas. We have no source of our own on who should stay away from ready made chilled foods, so that question belongs with your doctor rather than with this page. Chickpea can also be an allergen in its own right. One 17-year-old had repeated anaphylaxis after eating crackers and hummus before exercise, and testing identified chickpea as the cause. A single case tells you the reaction exists and nothing about how common it is. We hold no card on the other things in a tub, tahini among them, so read this page as covering chickpea and nothing else on that question. Among 39 Dutch adults with eosinophilic esophagitis, an inflammation of the food pipe that is treated by cutting foods out, higher intake of hummus and legumes went with higher eosinophil counts after six weeks. Observational again, and inside a group already on an elimination diet. It is not a reason for anyone without this diagnosis to change anything. Now the gaps, because they are wide. Three of the six studies under this page measure what hummus does soon after you eat it. The other three ask different questions, one a single case report, one comparing what ill and well people had eaten, and one tracking over six weeks what people with a particular diagnosis ate. Nothing here tells you how much the recipe moves those numbers, and hummus is chickpeas, tahini, oil, lemon and salt in proportions nobody standardises, so the distance between one tub and the next is a real question we cannot answer yet. We have nothing on what a normal portion looks like in ordinary eating, nothing on whether making it at home changes anything measurable, and nothing that tested the usual claims about hummus as a protein or fibre food. Two USDA entries, commercial and home prepared, are the whole of our data side. Take the glycemic figures as measured on the hummus those researchers served, and expect yours to behave a little differently.

Sources

1. hum-daily-r2-02 · randomised controlled trial
   Blood insulin and GIP concentrations were significantly lower (P < 0.02, P < 0.03) after the consumption of the ICC meal than the meal containing RCC. In vitro starch digestion for 90 min was slower in ICC than in RCC.
   Food Res Int, 2024 · checked 2026-09-23
2. hum-daily-r2-01 · randomised controlled trial
   The GI and II of hummus were 15 ± 3 and 52 ± 13, respectively, and were significantly lower than white bread (P < 0.05). ... Postprandial glucose responses were 4 times less than that of white bread and did not compromise insulin levels.
   Nutr J, 2016 · checked 2026-09-23
3. hum-daily-r2-03 · randomised controlled trial
   HUMMUS reduced subsequent snacking on desserts by ∼20% compared with NO SNACK (P = 0.001) and BARS (P < 0.001). ... Lastly, HUMMUS reduced afternoon blood glucose concentrations by ∼5% compared with BARS (P < 0.05).
   J Nutr, 2020 · checked 2026-09-23
4. hum-daily-r2-04 · case-control study
   In multivariable analysis, L. monocytogenes infection was associated with eating melons at a commercial establishment (odds ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.4-5.0) and eating hummus prepared in a commercial establishment (odds ratio, 5.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.7-19.1).
   Clin Infect Dis, 2007 · checked 2026-09-23
5. hum-daily-r2-05 · case report
   She had a history of anaphylaxis after eating crackers and hummus before exercising. Skin prick testing and serum-specific immunoglobulin E level confirmed chickpea to be the causative allergen.
   J Med Case Rep, 2015 · checked 2026-09-23
6. hum-daily-r2-06 · observational analysis inside a trial
   After dietary intervention, coffee/tea were significantly negatively (favorably) related to PEC, hummus/legumes were significantly positively (unfavorably) related with PEC, while peanuts were borderline significantly positively related (p = .058).
   Immun Inflamm Dis, 2024 · checked 2026-09-23