Is Corned Beef Bad for Gout? Purines, Salt and Brisket

TL;DR

• There’s no lab value for US corned beef. The only database entry, about 45 mg per 100 g, is one sample of Japanese canned corned beef, so it shouldn’t be read as “low purine.”
• Until US corned beef is measured, count it like other beef: roughly 90 to 120 mg of purines in a 3-ounce serving.
• The clear problem is salt: about 830 mg of sodium in 3 ounces of cooked corned beef, versus about 50 mg in plain brisket.

Corned beef is fine in a modest portion with gout, but don’t treat it as a low-purine meat. It’s cured beef brisket, and until US corned beef is actually tested, the safest assumption is that it carries about as many purines as other beef.

You may see corned beef listed as low in purines. That figure comes from a single sample of a different product, and it doesn’t justify relaxing the usual advice. Here’s why, and how to fit corned beef into a gout-friendly meal.

How many purines are in corned beef?

The USDA and NIH purine database, the most complete public collection of purine analyses, has one entry for corned beef: a Japanese canned corned beef analyzed in 2014, at about 45 mg per 100 g. There’s no analysis of US deli corned beef, which is brisket cured in brine and then simmered or steamed.

Here’s how that single number compares with the beef data around it:

Food	Purines (mg/100 g)	What was measured
Corned beef	~45	1 sample of Japanese canned corned beef
Beef brisket, raw	~80	1 sample of Japanese brisket, a fatty cut
Raw beef cuts, all analyses	~105 (range 75–190)	18 entries from several countries
US beef cuts, raw (USDA 2024)	~100–190	chuck, flank, ribeye, shoulder, ground
Beef round, raw → cooked	~125 → ~143	raw and cooked samples from one Japanese study
Corned beef in older purine tables	~105	not a current lab value

Source: USDA and ODS-NIH Purine Database, Release 2 (2025).

The low corned beef and brisket values each rest on a single analysis of a Japanese product, and older tables list both higher. Caution still applies.

Why shouldn’t you trust the low number?

Four reasons:

• It’s one sample. A single analysis can land well above or below the typical value. For comparison, the database’s analyses of ordinary raw beef span a more than twofold range.
• It’s a different product. Canned corned beef is cooked and packed in a can. It isn’t the same as a sliced, cured brisket from a US deli or supermarket.
• The brisket comparison is thin too. The only brisket in the database is also a single Japanese sample, from a fatty cut. Fat dilutes purines per gram, so a leaner US brisket could read higher. USDA’s 2024 tests of US beef cuts all came in between about 100 and 190 mg per 100 g raw.
• Curing leaves the lean muscle in place, and cooking concentrates it. Purines sit in the lean muscle, and brining doesn’t strip it away. Cooking drives off water, which pushes the value per gram up: in one Japanese study, beef round measured about 125 raw and 143 cooked.

It’s often said that simmering pulls purines into the cooking water. That may be true to a degree, but no one has measured it for corned beef, so don’t count on it.

So for planning, count a 3-ounce (85 g) serving of corned beef at roughly 90 to 120 mg of purines, the same as other beef, rather than the 38 mg the single canned sample would suggest. For how other cuts compare, see is beef bad for gout and is ground beef bad for gout.

Why purines per serving still matter

The American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) 2020 guideline conditionally recommends limiting purine intake for people with gout. It sets no daily number and doesn’t ban single foods, but heavy meals do make a difference. In a study of 633 people with gout, those in the top fifth of purine intake over two days had almost five times the odds of a flare compared with those in the bottom fifth, and purines from animal foods had a stronger effect than those from plants.

A thick corned beef sandwich or a second helping at a holiday dinner is exactly the kind of meal that pushes a two-day total up.

How much sodium is in corned beef?

This is the number that’s clearly high. From USDA FoodData Central:

Food	Serving	Sodium
Corned beef brisket, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	~827 mg
Corned beef, canned	3 oz (85 g)	~762 mg
Pastrami	2 oz (56 g)	~604 mg
Deli ham, sliced	2 oz (56 g)	~529 mg
Beef brisket, braised (not cured)	3 oz (85 g)	~46 mg

The Daily Value for sodium is 2,300 mg, so 3 ounces of corned beef uses more than a third of it. A Reuben adds Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, dressing and rye bread on top.

Does the salt in corned beef raise uric acid?

No. In the DASH-Sodium feeding trial, 103 adults ate low, medium and high amounts of sodium for 30 days each, and moving from low to high sodium lowered serum uric acid slightly, by about 0.4 mg/dL.

That isn’t a reason to eat more salt. Gout often comes with high blood pressure and heart disease, and some blood pressure medicines raise uric acid; the ACR guideline suggests switching from hydrochlorothiazide to another medicine when feasible. Keeping salt reasonable protects the rest of your health, and it’s something you can control at the table. For the same issue with other cured meats, see is deli meat bad for gout.

Corned beef and cabbage, Reubens and hash

• Corned beef and cabbage. The sides are the easy part: cabbage (about 5 mg per 100 g), potatoes (about 5) and carrots (close to 0) are all very low in purines. Keep the meat to about 3 ounces and let the vegetables fill the plate. See are potatoes bad for gout.
• The beer. On St. Patrick’s Day, the pint is often the biggest risk. Regular beer has about 35 mg of purines per 12 ounces, plus alcohol, which raises uric acid on its own. See is beer bad for gout.
• Reubens. Deli Reubens are often stacked well past 3 ounces of meat. Share one, or order a half sandwich with a salad.
• Corned beef hash. It’s mostly potato, which helps with purines, but canned hash is salty and fried hash is rich. Keep it an occasional breakfast.

If you want to know whether a corned beef dinner lines up with your flares, log it. An app like Urica can scan the plate and track it against your symptoms in the days after.

What are better choices than corned beef?

Instead of	Try	Why
Corned beef, 6-oz holiday plate	3 oz with extra cabbage and potatoes	Halves the meat’s purines
Reuben, stacked	Half a Reuben and a salad	Less meat, far less sodium
Corned beef on rye for lunch	Egg salad or cheese on rye	Eggs and cheese measure 15 mg per 100 g or less
Corned beef hash	Potato hash with peppers, onions and a fried egg	Very low in purines
Corned beef as a weekly roast	Plain braised brisket	Similar purines, about 95% less sodium
A pint of beer with dinner	Water or sparkling water	Skips the beer’s purines and alcohol

The Bottom Line

Corned beef isn’t a low-purine meat, whatever a single lab sample suggests. The only measurement is one Japanese canned product, and there’s no data for US corned beef. Count it like other beef, roughly 90 to 120 mg in 3 ounces, and keep it to a modest portion. Its clearest drawback is sodium, about 830 mg in 3 ounces, which matters for the blood pressure that often comes with gout. Load up on cabbage and potatoes, keep the portion small, and have water instead of beer.

Sources

• USDA and ODS-NIH. Database for the Purine Content of Foods, Release 2 (2025).
• USDA FoodData Central. Beef, cured, corned beef, brisket, cooked.
• Zhang Y, et al. Purine-rich foods intake and recurrent gout attacks. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 2012.
• Juraschek SP, et al. Effects of the DASH diet and sodium intake on serum uric acid. Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2016.
• FitzGerald JD, et al. 2020 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Management of Gout. Arthritis Care & Research, 2020.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Talk to your rheumatologist or healthcare provider about your specific situation.