Vitamin B12: Daily Value and top food sources

Daily Value: 2.4 µg (FDA, adults and children 4+)

Ranked by how much Vitamin B12 a typical portion provides, rather than per 100 g. Lists built per 100 g fill up with dried herbs and fortified bars, and nobody eats 100 g of thyme. Portions are the primary household measure USDA records for each food. From the 1000 foods in Bioma Learn. 149 foods are excluded from this ranking: USDA records no household measure for them (we will not call 100 g a portion), or it reports a value so high for one portion that we treat it as a data error, or the food is a dry uncooked staple measured before cooking.

Before you use this number

Plant foods do not contain B12 naturally. Vitamin B12 occurs naturally only in foods of animal origin. Where a plant food shows any, it has been fortified — many breakfast cereals and nutritional yeasts are. People who eat no animal products are at higher risk of deficiency. Evidence: b12-11 · b12-04

Top sources of Vitamin B12, per typical portion

Share of the Daily Value (2.4 µg) in one portion. Full amounts in the table below.

Food	Portion	Amount	% DV
Mussel, blue, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	20.4 µg	850%
Herring, Atlantic, cooked	1 fillet (143 g)	18.8 µg	783%
Mackerel, Atlantic, cooked	1 fillet (88 g)	16.7 µg	697%
Chicken, liver, all classes, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	14.3 µg	597%
Sardine, Atlantic, canned in oil, drained solids with bone	1 cup, drained (149 g)	13.3 µg	555%
Mackerel, salted	1 piece (5-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 1/2") (80 g)	9.6 µg	400%
Acai berry drink, fortified	8 fl oz (266 g)	9.04 µg	377%
Chicken, giblets, cooked, simmered	3 oz (85 g)	8.02 µg	334%
Sardine, Pacific, canned in tomato sauce, drained solids with bone	1 cup (89 g)	8.01 µg	334%
Oyster, eastern, wild, raw	6 medium (84 g)	7.35 µg	306%
Chicken, meatless, breaded, fried	1 cup, diced (130 g)	6.64 µg	277%
Herring, Atlantic, pickled	1 cup (140 g)	5.98 µg	249%
Braunschweiger, pork	1 oz (28.4 g)	5.71 µg	238%
Herring, Atlantic, kippered	1 oz, boneless (28.4 g)	5.31 µg	221%
Salmon, sockeye, canned, drained solids	3 oz (85 g)	4.67 µg	195%
Crab, blue, canned	1 cup (135 g)	4.5 µg	187%
Salmon, coho, wild, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	4.25 µg	177%
Salmon, pink, canned, drained solids	3 oz (85 g)	4.22 µg	176%
Salmon, pink, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	4.02 µg	168%
Catfish, channel, farmed, cooked	1 fillet (143 g)	3.98 µg	166%
Crab, blue, cooked	1 cup, flaked and pieces (118 g)	3.93 µg	164%
Beef, chuck, mock tender steak, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	3.81 µg	159%
Salmon, sockeye, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	3.8 µg	158%
Salmon, chum, canned, drained solids with bone	3 oz (85 g)	3.74 µg	156%
Salmon, pink, canned, total can contents	3 oz (85 g)	3.74 µg	156%

What Vitamin B12 does, how much you need, and what the evidence shows: Vitamin B12: who actually needs to worry, and why the damage can be permanent →

Related on Bioma

Pages that use this data.

Which foods are highest in vitamin B12? — question
How much vitamin B12 do you need per day? — question
What are the signs of vitamin B12 deficiency? — question