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Vitamin A: the daily reference intake

Vitamin A is the nutrient where the largest life-stage increase and the strictest pregnancy warning sit on the same page: breastfeeding raises the reference intake to 1 300 micrograms a day, while pregnancy comes with a firm ceiling on preformed retinol because too much causes birth defects.

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.

Vitamin A by age, sex and life stage

EFSA values are in micrograms of retinol equivalents. One microgram RE is one microgram of retinol, or six micrograms of beta-carotene, or twelve micrograms of the other provitamin A carotenoids.

Two different molecules under one name

Preformed vitamin A — retinol — comes from animal foods: liver above all, then dairy fat, egg yolk and fortified margarine. Provitamin A carotenoids, mostly beta-carotene, come from orange and dark green vegetables: carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, spinach, kale.

The two behave completely differently. Retinol is absorbed almost entirely and stored in the liver, so it accumulates and can reach toxic levels. Beta-carotene conversion is regulated by the body according to need, so vegetable sources do not cause vitamin A toxicity. Every warning on this page is about retinol, and none of it is about carrots.

The pregnancy warning, stated precisely

High intakes of preformed vitamin A in early pregnancy are teratogenic — they cause birth defects. That is why national antenatal advice across Europe tells pregnant women to avoid liver and liver products such as pate and liver sausage, and to avoid supplements containing retinol unless a clinician has prescribed one. Beta-carotene from food is not part of that warning.

A single 100 g portion of liver can contain many times the 3 000 microgram adult upper level, which is why the advice is "avoid" rather than "limit". If you are pregnant and unsure about a supplement you already take, ask a pharmacist or your antenatal clinic to read the label with you.

Why breastfeeding needs so much more

The 1 300 microgram lactation figure is nearly double the non-pregnant female value and is the largest proportional lactation increase of any nutrient here. Vitamin A is secreted into breast milk in quantity, and the infant liver stores at birth are small, so the milk has to supply it. This is one of the few places where a genuinely large increase is warranted by the physiology.

A note on the numbers in the food table

EFSA reference intakes are in retinol equivalents, which use a 6:1 conversion for beta-carotene. The USDA composition data used for the food table below is in retinol activity equivalents, which use a 12:1 conversion for beta-carotene. The two agree exactly for animal foods and diverge for plant foods, where the USDA figure is the more conservative one. Plant entries in the table therefore understate slightly against the EFSA target; animal entries do not.

The upper level

The tolerable upper intake level is 3 000 micrograms of preformed retinol a day for adults. It applies to retinol from liver, retinol supplements and fortified food, NOT to beta-carotene from vegetables, which the body converts only as needed. Excess preformed vitamin A is teratogenic, which is why liver and high-dose retinol supplements are avoided in pregnancy.

Ordinary food against the 750 microgram male reference intake

Top of this list: Veal liver, 11 707 µg RAE in a 100 g serving (a small portion) — 1 561% of the 750 microgram male reference intake. One serving covers the whole day on its own.

† US milk is fortified with vitamin D, and reduced-fat and skimmed milk also with vitamin A. Fortification of liquid milk is not universal in Europe - read the carton.

Unit: The reference value is in retinol equivalents (RE); the composition data is in retinol ACTIVITY equivalents (RAE). The two are identical for animal foods and differ for plant foods, where RAE counts beta-carotene at half the RE rate, so plant rows here understate slightly against the target.

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.

For the full ranking of every food in the database by vitamin a per 100 g, see foods highest in vitamin a.

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 vitamin A (2015) · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy composition data (retinol activity equivalents) · checked 2026-09-06

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