By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin that helps to keep blood cells and the nervous system, including the brain, healthy. It also helps make DNA. Vegans get vitamin B12 from foods fortified with vitamin B12 and/or from supplements containing vitamin B12. You can read more about vitamin B12 on our website here: https://www.vrg.org/nutrition/b12.php. Many non-vegans also rely on fortified foods as a source of vitamin B12 since the vitamin B12 in fortified foods is easier for some people to absorb than vitamin B12 in meat.

One food group that is commonly included on lists of foods fortified with vitamin B12 is plant milks. While many plant milks do have vitamin B12 added, not all popular brands do. As of July, 2018, based on website information and product labels, the following milks are not fortified with vitamin B12:

Almond Breeze almond milks
Califia Farms almond milks, cashew milks, coconut milks
Dream Ultimate almond milks
Edensoy soymilks except Edensoy Extra soymilks
Elmhurst Milked nut milks and grain milks
Forager cashew milks
Malk almond milks, pecan milk, cashew milk
Milkadamia Latte de Barrista macadamia milk
Mooala almond milks, banana milks
New Barn almond milks
Orgain almond milk
Pacific Foods almond beverages
Pacific Foods cashew beverages
Pacific Foods hazelnut beverages
Pacific Foods unsweetened hemp beverages
Pacific Foods oat beverages
Pacific Foods rice beverages
Pacific Foods soy beverages except UltraSoy
Pearl soymilks
Rice Dream Classic rice drinks, Horchata, and Rice Nog
Ripple pea milks
Silk almond milks
Silk almond & coconut blends
Silk blended nut milks
Silk cashew milks
So Delicious coconut holiday nog and chocolate coconut milk
So Delicious crafted almond milks and almond milks
Soy Dream Classic soymilks
Three Trees almond milks
Trader Joe’s refrigerated and shelf-stable almond milks, Matcha almond milk, Blueberry Lavender almond milk, Cocoa Almond Cashew milk, Cashew Macadamia milk
Trader Joe’s shelf-stable Extra soymilks and soy beverages
WestSoy organic original and organic unsweetened soymilks, lowfat and nonfat soymilks, Soy Slender, Chocolate Peppermint Stick soymilk

If your favorite milk is on the list, don’t despair! You could try another similar product that does provide vitamin B12, find other foods fortified with vitamin B12, or take a supplement supplying vitamin B12. Look for our upcoming posting listing plant milks that have B12.

This is not an exhaustive list so if you’re aware of other plant milks, please send us a photo of the front of the package and the Nutrition Facts label and we’ll update our listing.

We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.