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
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Showing 501–550 of 4,377 foods
| # | Food | Category | Per 100 g | % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 501 | Breakfast bar, corn flake crust with fruit | Snacks | 4.86 mg | 27% |
| 502 | Chickpea flour (besan) | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.86 mg | 27% |
| 503 | Bread, crumbs, dry, grated, plain | Baked Products | 4.83 mg | 27% |
| 504 | Snacks, tortilla chips, low fat, made with olestra, nacho cheese | Snacks | 4.80 mg | 27% |
| 505 | Owl, horned, flesh, raw (Alaska Native) | American Indian/Alaska Native Foods | 4.80 mg | 27% |
| 506 | Crackers, cheese, reduced fat | Baked Products | 4.80 mg | 27% |
| 507 | Crackers, cheese, low sodium | Baked Products | 4.77 mg | 26% |
| 508 | Beverages, coffee, instant, with chicory | Beverages | 4.76 mg | 26% |
| 509 | Mutton, cooked, roasted (Navajo) | American Indian/Alaska Native Foods | 4.76 mg | 26% |
| 510 | Jute, potherb, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 4.76 mg | 26% |
| 511 | Rice mix, cheese flavor, dry mix, unprepared | Meals, Entrees, and Side Dishes | 4.74 mg | 26% |
| 512 | Peanut flour, low fat | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.74 mg | 26% |
| 513 | Peas, green, split, mature seeds, raw | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.73 mg | 26% |
| 514 | Pancakes, buckwheat, dry mix, incomplete | Baked Products | 4.73 mg | 26% |
| 515 | Cornmeal, yellow, self-rising, degermed, enriched | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.73 mg | 26% |
| 516 | Pepperidge Farm, Goldfish, Baked Snack Crackers, Original | Baked Products | 4.73 mg | 26% |
| 517 | Cornmeal, white, self-rising, degermed, enriched | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.73 mg | 26% |
| 518 | Molasses | Sweets | 4.72 mg | 26% |
| 519 | Oats (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program) | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.72 mg | 26% |
| 520 | Cookies, chocolate sandwich, with creme filling, special dietary | Baked Products | 4.72 mg | 26% |
| 521 | Barley malt flour | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.71 mg | 26% |
| 522 | Nuts, hazelnuts or filberts | Nut and Seed Products | 4.70 mg | 26% |
| 523 | Caribou, eye, raw (Alaska Native) | American Indian/Alaska Native Foods | 4.70 mg | 26% |
| 524 | Cereals, CREAM OF WHEAT, 1 minute cook time, cooked with water, stove-top, without salt | Breakfast Cereals | 4.70 mg | 26% |
| 525 | Cake, gingerbread, dry mix | Baked Products | 4.70 mg | 26% |
| 526 | Archway Home Style Cookies, Molasses | Baked Products | 4.68 mg | 26% |
| 527 | Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, self-rising, enriched | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.67 mg | 26% |
| 528 | PIZZA HUT, breadstick, parmesan garlic | Fast Foods | 4.65 mg | 26% |
| 529 | Fast foods, breadstick, soft, prepared with garlic and parmesan cheese | Fast Foods | 4.65 mg | 26% |
| 530 | Muffins, English, plain, toasted, enriched, with calcium propionate (includes sourdough) | Baked Products | 4.65 mg | 26% |
| 531 | Crackers, matzo, whole-wheat | Baked Products | 4.65 mg | 26% |
| 532 | Cereals, QUAKER, Quick Oats, Dry | Breakfast Cereals | 4.64 mg | 26% |
| 533 | Cracker, meal | Baked Products | 4.64 mg | 26% |
| 534 | Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, enriched, bleached | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.64 mg | 26% |
| 535 | Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, enriched, calcium-fortified | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.64 mg | 26% |
| 536 | Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, enriched, unbleached | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.64 mg | 26% |
| 537 | Seeds, breadnut tree seeds, dried | Nut and Seed Products | 4.60 mg | 26% |
| 538 | Beverages, Carob-flavor beverage mix, powder | Beverages | 4.60 mg | 26% |
| 539 | Beverages, coffee substitute, cereal grain beverage, powder | Beverages | 4.60 mg | 26% |
| 540 | Snacks, pita chips, salted | Snacks | 4.59 mg | 26% |
| 541 | Hyacinth beans, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.58 mg | 25% |
| 542 | Hyacinth beans, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.58 mg | 25% |
| 543 | Peanuts, all types, raw | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.58 mg | 25% |
| 544 | Snacks, pretzels, hard, plain, salted | Snacks | 4.58 mg | 25% |
| 545 | Quinoa, uncooked | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.57 mg | 25% |
| 546 | Wheat, hard white | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.56 mg | 25% |
| 547 | Tomato powder | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 4.56 mg | 25% |
| 548 | Bread, protein, (includes gluten), toasted | Baked Products | 4.56 mg | 25% |
| 549 | Egg, yolk, raw, frozen, pasteurized | Dairy and Egg Products | 4.55 mg | 25% |
| 550 | Candies, halavah, plain | Sweets | 4.53 mg | 25% |
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