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 151–200 of 3,595 foods
| # | Food | Category | Per 100 g | % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 151 | Cereal, ready to eat, Fibre 1: Raisin Bran Clusters, General Mills | Breakfast cereals | 12.89 mg | 72% |
| 152 | Cereal, hot, cream of wheat, regular, dry | Breakfast cereals | 12.86 mg | 71% |
| 153 | Cereal, hot, cream of wheat, quick, dry | Breakfast cereals | 12.86 mg | 71% |
| 154 | Cereal, hot, cream of wheat, instant: original, dry | Breakfast cereals | 12.86 mg | 71% |
| 155 | Cereal, hot, oats, instant: regular, dry | Breakfast cereals | 12.83 mg | 71% |
| 156 | Instant breakfast, powder, chocolate | Beverages | 12.82 mg | 71% |
| 157 | Cereal, ready to eat, Oatmeal Crisp. various flavours, (almond, maple nut, raisin, triple berry, vanilla almond), General Mills | Breakfast cereals | 12.68 mg | 70% |
| 158 | Cereal, ready to eat, All Bran Buds, Kellogg's | Breakfast cereals | 12.67 mg | 70% |
| 159 | Seeds, cottonseed flour, partially defatted | Nuts and Seeds | 12.66 mg | 70% |
| 160 | Seeds, cottonseed flour, low fat | Nuts and Seeds | 12.58 mg | 70% |
| 161 | Cereal, hot, cream of wheat, instant: maple and brown sugar, dry | Breakfast cereals | 12.57 mg | 70% |
| 162 | Cereal, hot, cream of wheat, instant: apple and cinnamon, dry | Breakfast cereals | 12.57 mg | 70% |
| 163 | Mushroom, morel, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 12.18 mg | 68% |
| 164 | Cookie, chocolate sandwich, cream filling, regular | Baked Products | 12.14 mg | 67% |
| 165 | Cereal, ready to eat, Golden Grahams, General Mills | Breakfast cereals | 12.03 mg | 67% |
| 166 | Plant-based beverage, protein powder, soy based, powder | Beverages | 12.00 mg | 67% |
| 167 | Candies, chocolate, dark, 70-85% cacao solids | Sweets | 11.90 mg | 66% |
| 168 | Spices, spearmint, fresh | Spices and Herbs | 11.87 mg | 66% |
| 169 | Spices, cloves, ground | Spices and Herbs | 11.83 mg | 66% |
| 170 | Cereal, ready to eat, All Bran Original, Kellogg's | Breakfast cereals | 11.65 mg | 65% |
| 171 | Babyfood, cereal, mixed grain, with fruit, prepared with formula or breast milk | Babyfoods | 11.51 mg | 64% |
| 172 | Leavening agent, baking powder, double acting, phosphate | Baked Products | 11.27 mg | 63% |
| 173 | Seaweed, dulse (laver, nori), dried | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 11.22 mg | 62% |
| 174 | Candied foods, ginger root, crystallized | Sweets | 11.19 mg | 62% |
| 175 | Seeds, hemp seeds, hulled | Nuts and Seeds | 11.16 mg | 62% |
| 176 | Beans, white, flour | Legumes and Legume Products | 11.15 mg | 62% |
| 177 | Babyfood, cereal, oat, prepared with formula or breast milk | Babyfoods | 11.11 mg | 62% |
| 178 | Spices, saffron | Spices and Herbs | 11.10 mg | 62% |
| 179 | Leavening agent, baking powder, double acting, sodium, aluminium sulfate | Baked Products | 11.02 mg | 61% |
| 180 | Cereal, ready to eat, Corn Flakes, Selection | Breakfast cereals | 10.96 mg | 61% |
| 181 | Cereal, ready to eat, Oatmeal Squares, Quaker | Breakfast cereals | 10.93 mg | 61% |
| 182 | Pepper, ancho, dried | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 10.93 mg | 61% |
| 183 | Babyfood, cereal, mixed grain, with milk powder and fruit, prepared with water | Babyfoods | 10.89 mg | 60% |
| 184 | Moth beans, raw | Legumes and Legume Products | 10.85 mg | 60% |
| 185 | Soy protein concentrate (prepared with acid and water wash) | Legumes and Legume Products | 10.78 mg | 60% |
| 186 | Soy protein concentrate (prepared with alcohol) | Legumes and Legume Products | 10.78 mg | 60% |
| 187 | Cereal, ready to eat, Frosted Flakes, Kellogg's | Breakfast cereals | 10.73 mg | 60% |
| 188 | Babyfood, cereal, barley, with milk powder, prepared with water | Babyfoods | 10.73 mg | 60% |
| 189 | Cereal, ready to eat, Corn Bran Squares, Quaker | Breakfast cereals | 10.65 mg | 59% |
| 190 | Grains, wheat bran, crude | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 10.57 mg | 59% |
| 191 | Instant breakfast, powder | Beverages | 10.50 mg | 58% |
| 192 | Beans, white, raw | Legumes and Legume Products | 10.44 mg | 58% |
| 193 | Pepper, sweet, green, freeze-dried | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 10.40 mg | 58% |
| 194 | Pepper, sweet, red, freeze-dried | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 10.40 mg | 58% |
| 195 | Cereal, ready to eat, Life Multigrains, Quaker | Breakfast cereals | 10.30 mg | 57% |
| 196 | Black-eyed peas (cowpeas), catjang, raw | Legumes and Legume Products | 9.95 mg | 55% |
| 197 | Pepper, pasilla, dried | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 9.83 mg | 55% |
| 198 | Lentils, flour | Legumes and Legume Products | 9.79 mg | 54% |
| 199 | Spices, poppy seed | Spices and Herbs | 9.76 mg | 54% |
| 200 | Tofu, koyadofu, dried-frozen (prepared with calcium sulphate) | Legumes and Legume Products | 9.73 mg | 54% |
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