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Regev Elya here, founder of Pernicious Anemia Relief.
The list below shows different types of foods from around the world. It first appeared on my personal website, but I’ve brought it to PA Relief with a twist: only B12-rich foods are included. The idea is to show how people in various cultures get vitamin B12 through a wide range of colors, cuisines, and traditions. I took many of the photos myself.
A World of Foods Rich in B12
France
Escargots de Bourgogne, or snails cooked with garlic and parsley. Some snail species are rich sources of B12. For example, tiger snails contain 16.58 µg per 100 g.
United States
Smoked beef ribs, a classic American dish. Beef ribs contain 2.6 µg of B12 per 100 g. That may not seem like much next to our injectable vitamin B12, but as a food source it is respectable. Remember, you only need a few micrograms of B12 each day.
Norway
Deer medallions in gravy with cranberry jam, roasted potatoes, and vegetables on the side. Venison is an excellent source of B vitamins, B12 included.
Ethiopia
Doro wat, an onion-based, spicy Ethiopian stew with chicken and hard-boiled eggs, both of which contain respectable amounts of vitamin B12.
Panama
Bistec picao and patacones, a typical Panamanian dish made with chopped steak and fried green plantains. Beef steak contains 2.6 µg of B12 per 100 g.
Belgium
Horse steak. It contains 3.2 µg of B12 per 100 g, more than lamb, veal, or beef steak. People also eat it in neighboring France.
Portugal
Cozido das Furnas, a famous traditional dish from the Furnas Valley on the Azorean island of São Miguel, Portugal. Vegetables and meat are cooked for hours in a pot buried in the hot volcanic soil of Furnas, giving the dish a distinct geothermal character.
Italy
Linguine allo scoglio, an Italian dish made with pasta and mussels. Blue cooked mussels, the most common type, contain an impressive 24 µg of B12 per 100 g.
Myanmar (Burma)
A typical Burmese soup, rich in flavor and made with beef slices and hard-boiled eggs, both of which are excellent sources of vitamin B12.
Mexico
Higado encebollado, beef liver with onion. Beef liver is an incredible source of B12, with 70.6 µg per 100 g. That’s not surprising, since the liver stores B12 and other vitamins.
Montenegro
Montenegrin beef liver served with red onion—similar to the dish above. Liver really is an excellent source of many nutrients, including B12. We highly recommend it.
Spain
Typical Spanish seafood paella, full of mussels, clams, and shrimp. Clams are the richest sources of B12, with 99 µg per 100 g. That is 4,120% of the suggested 2.4 µg daily intake. Just one clam contains about 9–10 µg, or roughly four times that amount.
Japan
Nigiri sushi in Japan often comes with seafood such as sea urchin, clams, caviar, tuna belly, salmon, and more. Many of these contain significant amounts of B12.
South Africa
A very large steak. Drive around the country, and you can find restaurants serving zebra steaks, giraffe steaks, and other game meats, all rich in B12.
New Zealand
Fresh seafood from New Zealand. Octopus, lobster, oysters, and other seafood are generally very rich in vitamin B12.
Georgia
Traditional khinkali from Georgia, the country in the Caucasus, not the American state. The most popular filling is a mix of pork and beef. In the mountains, lamb is more common and is also a richer source of vitamin B12.
Southeast Asia
Balut, or boiled fertilized duck embryo, may shock Western readers. It is enjoyed across the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand as a delicacy that many believe boosts libido. Duck eggs contain about four times as much B12 as chicken eggs.
Jewish
Hamin, a traditional Jewish stew enjoyed by Jews in Israel and around the world. It is slow-cooked overnight for 12 to 18 hours and served for lunch on Saturday. Because it contains meat and eggs, it is also a good source of vitamin B12.
Hungary
Rabbit leg. Rabbit meat contains a good amount of vitamin B12, about 6.5 µg per 100 g. Similar dishes are served in other Eastern European countries.
Indonesia
Gulai otak, or cow brain, in Padang sauce. Think of it as a brain curry. It is rich in vitamin B12, with cow brain containing about 10.1 µg per 100 g.
Korea
Boiled cockles, seasoned with sweet-and-sour sauce and red chili pepper, are exceptionally rich in vitamin B12, with about 52.27 µg per 100 g.
Arabian Peninsula
Lamb kabsa, regarded as a national dish in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, is rich in vitamin B12, like most lamb dishes.
Argentina
Classic Argentine steak with chimichurri sauce and yellow rice. Beef steak contains 2.7 µg of vitamin B12 per 100 g, slightly above the daily recommended dose.
Madagascar
Grilled fish on the African island of Madagascar, where locals eat fresh fish liberally. Fish is an excellent source of vitamin B12, averaging 2.8 µg per 100 g.
Iceland
Here’s a unique food to try when you visit Iceland: Svið, a traditional Icelandic dish made from a sheep’s head. It originated at a time when people could not afford to waste any part of a slaughtered animal. As a bonus, sheep meat is rich in vitamin B12.
Armenia
Tjvjik, an Armenian dish made by frying pieces of liver, heart, and kidney with large amounts of onions. Fresh herbs and grated or pureed tomatoes are sometimes added. Thanks to the organ meats, this dish is extremely rich in vitamin B12.
B12 in Every Cuisine
As you can see, many different foods around the world can provide plenty of B12 to saturate your tissues. Each cuisine offers its own cultural twist. It’s worth mentioning that most B12 deficiencies are not caused by low intake, but by absorption issues.
In the end, vitamin B12 is everywhere if your diet includes animal foods. Anyway, we hope you enjoyed this journey through the many types of food we showcased, and that it gave you a fresh perspective on how colorful a B12-rich diet can be.
Bon appétit.