Ground Beef Purine Ranking: Lowest to Highest

Lowest Purine Ground Beef

Highest Purine Ground Beef

#6beef, ground, cooked (unspecified)89.9 mg

#5beef, ground, 73% lean meat / 27% fat, raw133.3 mg

#4beef, ground, 80% lean meat / 20% fat, raw160.9 mg

#3beef, ground, 93% lean meat / 7% fat, raw188.9 mg

#2beef, ground, 73% lean meat / 27% fat, cooked4233.3 mg

#1beef, ground, 93% lean meat / 7% fat, cooked4251.9 mg

Category Average: 176.4 mg/100g

The average across 6 Ground Beef foods with lab-measured data. Foods below this average are better-than-typical choices within this category.

How to Use This Ranking

The purine ranking is sorted from lowest to highest. Rank #1 is the lowest-purine food in the category. Foods in the top half (above median) should be consumed with more awareness of portion and frequency. The difference between adjacent ranks varies: in some categories, rank #5 and #10 might be only 10 mg apart; in others, the gap can be 100+ mg. Always check the actual milligram value, not just the position. Rankings do not account for fructose or alcohol — use individual food pages for a complete risk assessment.

ACR 2020 Guideline Context

The American College of Rheumatology recommends that gout patients focus on purine awareness rather than complete food group elimination. Within any category, there is a wide purine range. The goal is to shift toward lower-purine choices within categories you already eat, rather than eliminating entire food groups. This ranking helps you identify which specific items to prioritize and which to limit.

Japanese guidelines recommend under 400 mg of total dietary purines per day. Using this ranking, you can estimate how much of budget each food uses per typical serving.

How This Comparison Is Built

Each item here is scored by a three-factor risk engine covering purines, fructose, and alcohol. Purine values draw on the USDA+ODS-NIH PURINE DATABASE Release 2 (March 2025) and Kaneko et al. (Biol Pharm Bull 37(5):709-721, 2014, PMID: 24553148); fructose comes from USDA SR28 tables. Classification uses ACR 2020 thresholds — Safe under 50 mg purine and 2 g fructose with no alcohol, Moderate in between, Avoid above, or when alcohol is present. Each food page labels its data quality as T1 (lab-measured), T2 (measured plus consensus), or T3 (category estimate).

This comparison is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Individual tolerance to purines and fructose varies. Consult a healthcare professional for personalized dietary guidance. Last reviewed: 2026-09-03.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ground beef bad for gout?

Ground beef is moderate in purines and works in normal portions, but cooking concentrates purines per 100g, so a large cooked patty adds up. Among 6 ground beef entries with measured values, the leanest raw blends sit around 89.9 mg/100g while cooked versions reach 251.9 mg/100g. Choose lean (90%+) and keep servings modest.

Which ground beef is lowest in purines?

The lowest-purine options in our database are the leaner raw blends — beef, ground, cooked (unspecified) at 89.9 mg/100g and beef, ground, 73% lean meat / 27% fat, raw at 133.3 mg/100g. Leaner means less total purine-bearing tissue; cooking further condenses it, so a smaller lean patty beats a big fatty one.

Does cooking increase purine content?

per 100g. As meat loses water during cooking, purines become more concentrated, which is why cooked ground beef measures higher than the same blend raw in our database (up to about 251.9 mg/100g cooked vs 89.9 mg/100g raw). The total purine on your plate still depends mostly on portion size.

Ground Beef Ranked by Purine Content