Red meat and poultry dominate this ranking because their iron binds easily to the proteins that carry oxygen through your blood. Animal tissues contain haem iron, the form your body absorbs with the fewest obstacles. Plant foods hold non-haem iron, which your gut takes up less readily and only when other compounds in the meal do not block it.
Iron concentrates in organ meats, then muscle meats, then leafy greens and legumes. A single ranking cannot show you absorption rates. Two foods with the same iron count per 100 g deliver different amounts to your bloodstream depending on what else you eat alongside them.
Without animal foods, you lose access to haem iron. Plant sources and fortified foods supply non-haem iron instead, which your body absorbs at a lower rate and loses to interference from phytates, tannins and polyphenols in the same meal. Eating vitamin C alongside iron-rich plants improves uptake substantially. Many fortified cereals and plant milks contain added iron in amounts comparable to meat, but absorption remains the limiting factor on a vegetarian or vegan diet.
FDA daily value: 18 mg
Selling a product with iron? Generate a print-ready nutrition label from your recipe.
Showing 1951–2000 of 2,883 foods
| # | Food | Category | Per 100 g | % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Sugar-apple, raw | Fruits and fruit juices | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1952 | Asparagus, canned, solids and liquid | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1953 | Ginger root, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1954 | Taro shoots, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1955 | Yambean (jimaca), tuber, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1956 | Squash, winter, butternut, baked | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1957 | Seeds, breadfruit seeds, boiled | Nuts and Seeds | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1958 | Grains, rice, wild, cooked | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1959 | Pasta, egg noodles, unenriched, cooked | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1960 | Pasta, egg noodles, unenriched, cooked, salted | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1961 | Fast foods, breakfast, potatoes, hashed brown | Fast Foods | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1962 | Asparagus, canned, solids and liquid, unsalted | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1963 | Salad dressing, sesame seed, regular | Fats and Oils | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1964 | Zwieback | Babyfoods | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1965 | Squash, winter, butternut, baked, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.60 mg | 3% |
| 1966 | Strawberry, frozen, sweetened, sliced | Fruits and fruit juices | 0.59 mg | 3% |
| 1967 | Coleslaw (cabbage salad), with dressing, homemade | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.59 mg | 3% |
| 1968 | Pickles, cucumber, sweet, low sodium | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.59 mg | 3% |
| 1969 | Nopales (prickly pear), raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.59 mg | 3% |
| 1970 | Parsnip, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.59 mg | 3% |
| 1971 | Candies, nougat, with almonds | Sweets | 0.59 mg | 3% |
| 1972 | Cassava (manioc), flour | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.59 mg | 3% |
| 1973 | Plant-based beverage, soy, enriched, all flavours, reduced fat | Beverages | 0.59 mg | 3% |
| 1974 | Soup, mixed vegetable (with pasta), ready-to-serve | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1975 | Cherry, sweet, canned, juice pack, solids and liquid | Fruits and fruit juices | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1976 | Plantain, cooked | Fruits and fruit juices | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1977 | Squash, winter, all varieties, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1978 | Parsnip, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1979 | Potato puff, frozen, prepared | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1980 | Squash, winter, butternut, frozen, boiled | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1981 | Salad dressing, french, fat free | Fats and Oils | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1982 | Parsnip, boiled, drained, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1983 | Squash, winter, butternut, frozen, boiled, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1984 | Blueberry, wild, frozen | Fruits and fruit juices | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1985 | Salad, Greek, homemade | Mixed Dishes | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1986 | Babyfood, dinner, jarred, pasta with vegetables | Babyfoods | 0.58 mg | 3% |
| 1987 | Okra (gumbo), frozen, unprepared | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1988 | Potato, scalloped, homemade, with butter | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1989 | Yambean (jimaca), tuber, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1990 | Radicchio, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1991 | Potato, french-fried, frozen, all types, salt added in processing, home-prepared, heated in oven | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1992 | Pumpkin, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1993 | Tomato, red, ripe, canned, whole | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1994 | Candies, bars, Skor | Sweets | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1995 | Candies, After Eight, chocolate mints | Sweets | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1996 | Dessert, pudding, coconut, dry mix, regular, unprepared | Sweets | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1997 | Potato, scalloped, homemade, with margarine | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1998 | Pumpkin, boiled, drained, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 1999 | Yambean (jimaca), tuber, boiled, drained, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 0.57 mg | 3% |
| 2000 | Vegetable oil, olive | Fats and Oils | 0.56 mg | 3% |
Need this on a label? Turn these foods into a print-ready Nutrition Facts label.
Make a labelBuild a recipe from any of these ingredients and export a print-ready FDA or Canada Nutrition Facts label. Free.