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Riboflavin (B2): the daily reference intake
The riboflavin reference intake is 1.6 mg a day, the same for adult men and women. Milk and dairy carry a large share of the European intake, which makes riboflavin one of the nutrients worth rechecking when dairy leaves a diet.
These are published population reference values, not a diagnosis and not a prescription. A reference intake describes what covers a healthy group; it cannot tell you your own status, and no page can. Pregnancy, chronic illness, medicines and malabsorption all change the picture — take those questions to a doctor, midwife, pharmacist or dietitian.
Riboflavin (B2) by age, sex and life stage
Riboflavin is one of the few reference intakes that is identical for adult men and women. This page carries the adult values; EFSA also publishes lower values for each child band.
| Group | Reference value | Type | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men 19-50 | 1.6 mg | PRI | |
| Women 19-50 | 1.6 mg | PRI | the same as men |
| Men 51 and over | 1.6 mg | PRI | |
| Women 51 and over | 1.6 mg | PRI | |
| Adults 65 and over | 1.6 mg | PRI | |
| Pregnancy | 1.9 mg | PRI | |
| Breastfeeding | 2 mg | PRI |
Where it comes from in this region
Milk, yogurt and cheese supply a disproportionate share of riboflavin in northern European diets, followed by eggs, meat and offal, and by fortified cereal products. Mushrooms, almonds and green vegetables contribute usefully. Liver is in a class of its own.
Because dairy carries so much of the total, dropping it without a plan is the commonest way an otherwise reasonable diet ends up low. Fortified plant drinks vary: some are fortified with riboflavin and some are not, and the label is the only way to know.
Light destroys it
Riboflavin is sensitive to light — this is why milk in clear glass or transparent plastic on a bright shelf loses riboflavin, and why milk has traditionally been sold in opaque containers. It is stable to heat, so ordinary cooking is not the problem; daylight is.
What deficiency looks like, and why it is rarely alone
Riboflavin deficiency shows up in the mouth and on the skin: cracks at the corners of the mouth, a sore magenta tongue, an inflamed lip margin, and sometimes a scaly rash around the nose. In practice it almost never appears on its own, because the diets that produce it are short of several B vitamins at once. That is one reason a single-nutrient supplement is rarely the right answer to those symptoms.
These signs also have entirely non-nutritional causes, including fungal infection at the corners of the mouth, dentures that do not fit and iron deficiency. They are a reason to see a clinician, not to self-diagnose from a table.
The migraine exception
High-dose riboflavin has been studied specifically as a migraine prophylactic, at doses far above the reference intake, and appears in some clinical guidance for that purpose. That is a therapeutic use with a defined dose and a prescriber, and it has nothing to do with the 1.6 mg on this page.
The upper level
No tolerable upper intake level has been set for riboflavin. High doses turn urine bright yellow, which is harmless and is simply the excess being excreted.
Ordinary food against the 1.6 mg adult reference intake
Top of this list: Veal liver, 2.44 mg in a 100 g serving (a small portion) — 153% of the 1.6 mg adult reference intake. One serving covers the whole day on its own.
| Food | Ordinary portion | Per portion | Share of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veal liver | a small portion, 100 g | 2.44 mg | 153% |
| Salmon | a fillet, 120 g | 0.588 mg | 37% |
| Mackerel | a fillet, 120 g | 0.492 mg | 31% |
| Soybeans | a portion, cooked, 150 g | 0.435 mg | 27% |
| Greek yogurt | a small pot, 150 g | 0.42 mg | 26% |
| 2% milk | a glass, 200 g | 0.38 mg | 24% |
| Cottage cheese | a small tub, 150 g | 0.375 mg | 23% |
| Skim milk | a glass, 200 g | 0.36 mg | 22% |
| Almonds | a small handful, 30 g | 0.342 mg | 21% |
| Whole milk | a glass, 200 g | 0.34 mg | 21% |
| Mushrooms | a portion, 80 g | 0.32 mg | 20% |
| Boneless pork chop | a chop, 120 g | 0.3 mg | 19% |
Portion sizes are ordinary household servings chosen for this table, not official reference portions, and the shortlist is an editorial one: everyday foods eaten in this region rather than the highest per-100 g entries in the database. A raw per-100 g ranking would be topped by dried herbs, drink powders and fortified breakfast cereals, which answers a different question. The composition data is American, so where US fortification practice differs from European practice the row carries a dagger and the reason. For the full per-100 g ranking of a nutrient, the food-data section of this site publishes one.
Sources: EFSA Dietary Reference Values · Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy (food composition) · EFSA scientific opinion on dietary reference values for riboflavin (2017) · Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII · checked 2026-09-06
Frequently asked questions
How much riboflavin a day?
EFSA population reference intake is 1.6 mg a day for adult men and women alike, 1.9 mg in pregnancy and 2.0 mg while breastfeeding.
Why does a B vitamin turn urine yellow?
That is riboflavin. It is intensely yellow, water-soluble and excreted when intake exceeds what the body retains, so bright yellow urine after a B-complex tablet is expected and harmless.
Which foods are highest in riboflavin?
Liver by a wide margin, then milk, yogurt and cheese, eggs, meat, mushrooms, almonds and fortified cereals.
See your own numbers, not the population average
TempoLife logs what you eat and adds it up, so you can compare a real week against the reference intake on this page instead of guessing.