Zinc: Daily Value and top food sources

Daily Value: 11 mg (FDA, adults and children 4+)

Ranked by how much Zinc 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. 170 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

High-dose zinc supplements can cause copper deficiency. This applies to supplements, not to food. People who regularly take high doses of zinc, or use large amounts of zinc-containing denture cream, can develop copper deficiency, because zinc inhibits copper absorption. Evidence: cu-04

Top sources of Zinc, per typical portion

Share of the Daily Value (11 mg) in one portion. Full amounts in the table below.

Food	Portion	Amount	% DV
Oyster, eastern, wild, raw	6 medium (84 g)	33 mg	300%
Beans, baked, canned, with pork and tomato sauce	1 cup (246 g)	13.5 mg	123%
Sesame seed kernels, toasted	1 cup (128 g)	13.1 mg	119%
Sesame seeds, whole, dried	1 cup (144 g)	11.2 mg	101%
Beef, chuck, short ribs, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	10.2 mg	92%
Sesame seed kernels, dried	1 cup (150 g)	10.1 mg	92%
Beef, chuck, under blade steak, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	9.68 mg	88%
Beef, chuck, under blade pot roast, all grades, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	9.62 mg	87%
Beef, chuck eye Country-Style ribs, cooked, braised	3 oz (85 g)	9.33 mg	85%
Beef, chuck eye Country-Style ribs, all grades, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	9.27 mg	84%
Beef, chuck, mock tender steak, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	9.15 mg	83%
Pumpkin and squash seed kernels, roasted	1 cup (118 g)	9.02 mg	82%
Beef, chuck eye steak, all grades, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	8.96 mg	81%
Beef, chuck eye steak, cooked, grilled	3 oz (85 g)	8.93 mg	81%
Beef, chuck, under blade center steak, Denver Cut, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	8.37 mg	76%
Beef, chuck eye Roast, America's Beef Roast, all grades, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	8.27 mg	75%
Cashew nuts, dry roasted	1 cup, halves and whole (137 g)	7.67 mg	70%
Sunflower seed kernels, dry roasted	1.0 cup (127 g)	7.62 mg	69%
Beef, chuck for stew, cooked, braised	3 oz (85 g)	7.2 mg	65%
Beef, chuck for stew, all grades, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	7.07 mg	64%
Sunflower seed kernels, oil roasted	1 cup (135 g)	7.03 mg	64%
Beef, chuck, blade roast, cooked	3 oz (85 g)	7 mg	64%
Cashew nuts, oil roasted	1 cup, whole (129 g)	6.9 mg	63%
Sunflower seed kernels from shell, dry roasted	1 cup (128 g)	6.77 mg	62%
Mixed nuts, oil roasted, without peanuts	1 cup (144 g)	6.71 mg	61%

What Zinc does, how much you need, and what the evidence shows: Zinc: the cold remedy that partly works, and the supplement that backfires →

Related on Bioma

Pages that use this data.

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