Vitamin B12 is mainly found in animal foods. What should you eat to cover the daily requirement through food? Here is an overview.
vitamin B12 is hardly or not at all contained in plant foods, but the content in beef liver is unbeatable: 100 grams contain 65 micrograms of vitamin B12, 16 times the daily requirement. Overdosing through food is not possible, so liver fans need not worry. Vegetarians, on the other hand, are recommended to take vitamin B12 supplements to counteract a deficiency.
Here you will find an overview of the foods that contain a lot of vitamin B12.
Vitamin B12: This is how much you should get from food
According to the German Nutrition Society (DGE) the daily requirement for children is constantly increasing. From the age of 15, they should take 4 micrograms of vitamin B12 a day through food. Some foods – such as beef liver – provide 65 micrograms, far more than the daily requirement. According to the DGE, an overdose of food is not possible. Vitamin B12 is one of the water-soluble vitamins, excess is excreted in the urine.
baby
- 0 to less than 4 months: 0.5 µg/day
- 4 to less than 12 months: 1.4 µg/day
Children:
- 1 to under 4 years: 1.5 µg/day
- 4 to under 7 years: 2.0 µg/day
- 7 to under 10 years: 2.5 µg/day
- 10 to under 13 years: 3.5 µg/day
- 13 to under 15 years: 4.0 µg/day
- Adolescents and adults aged 15 and over: 4.0 µg/day
- Pregnant women: 4.5 µg/day
- Breastfeeding: 5.5 µg/day
Vitamin B12: Food that can cover the daily requirement
Liver of any kind contains the most vitamin B12, and among the types of meat, rabbit fillet scores particularly well. At 0.46 micrograms, poultry provides the least vitamin B12 per 100 grams. The values come from the Swiss nutritional database and are given for portions per 100 grams:
Meat
- beef liver: 65 µg
- Calf liver: 60 µg
- Pork liver: 39 mcg
- Rabbit fillet: 8.7 µg
- Liver sausage: 5.14 mcg
- Beef: 2.85 mcg
- Salami: 0.98 mcg
- Pork: 0.77 mcg
- Poultry: 0.46 mcg
fish and seafood
- Mussel: 8 mcg
- Salmon, raw: 6.9 mcg
- Tuna: 6.8 mcg
- Herring (Rollmops): 6.6 µg
- Trout: 5 mcg
- Salmon, smoked: 4.3 µg
- Saithe: 2.3 µg
eggs and dairy products
- Camembert: 1.8 µg
- Emmental: 1.67 µg
- Parmesan: 1.75 mcg
- Whole milk powder: 1.5 µg
- Mozzarella: 1.4 mcg
- Chicken egg: 1.31 mcg
- Cream cheese: 0.6 mcg
- Sheep milk: 0.44 mcg
- Whole milk: 0.33 mcg
- Plain yoghurt: 0.3 mcg
Is vitamin B12 in plant foods?
Vitamin B12 in plant foods is scarce: seaweed and shiitake mushrooms contain the vitamin, but the levels can vary greatly. According to the DGE, sauerkraut can also contain traces of vitamin B12 due to bacterial fermentation, but they are not nearly enough to cover the daily requirement. The Swiss nutritional value database did not find any vitamin B12 content in sauerkraut in its laboratory test.
According to the Robert Koch Institute, people who follow a vegan diet should consider taking vitamin B12 supplements. The DGE also advises vegans to take vitamin B12 on a permanent basis because they eat little or no food that contains the vitamin.