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Preformed vitamin A (retinol)

In the body: Too much preformed vitamin A can harm an unborn baby and the liver.

The one to watch: Beef liver, pan-fried. About 39 g, eaten alone, reaches the daily limit. Also Chicken liver, simmered, at about 75 g on the same count. The rest stay under it at a serving a day. The one with the least room, Butter, salted, has about 450 g, eaten alone.

Too much of a nutrient. For a food measured against it: the grams that reach the upper intake level, eaten every day.

All hazards

The limit

  • The agency’s figure3,000 µg RE/day
  • Basisupper intake level (UL): the most to take in every day
    upper intake level (UL) (preformed vitamin A; teratogenicity)
  • Average adult intake274–1,241 µg RE/day EFSA 2024 Tables 7 and 8: mean intake of preformed vitamin A from food sources only (supplements and fortified foods excluded), adults 18-<65 y, minimum to maximum across EU surveys, women 274 to men 1241 µg RE/day; European populations unlikely to exceed the upper intake level (UL) if liver and offal are eaten once a month or less
  • Applies tototal intake of preformed vitamin A (diet and supplements); not beta-carotene
  • Source EFSA 2024

Reviewed foods that carry it

5 reviewed foods carry it, 5 of them rated by dose. A food counts once, as in the foods list: preparations sharing a page (raw and cooked, canned) count once; one with its own page counts apart. Below, one line for each of 6 preparations. 6 of those lines are rated by dose.

Grams to the limit

Grams of each food that reach the limit in its window, for a 70 kg adult. Fewest first: those are the foods to watch.

Known background: an average adult already takes in 274–1,241 µg RE/day. Where the dataset allows, the grams below are the room left after that intake (the median of the surveys’ averages where EFSA gives one, otherwise the highest); beside each, the same limit counted from zero, the food eaten alone.

  1. Beef liver, pan-fried

    Limit it: weekly or less for a 100 g serving

    39g
    reaches the limit in a day
    Counted from zero: this food eaten alone.
    7,730 µg per 100 g serving

    US food database (USDA SR Legacy) · grade C

    How it’s rated

    Weekly or less: the tolerable upper intake level (UL) for preformed vitamin A is 3,000 µg RE a day (EFSA 2024; Health Canada 3,000 µg RAE, preformed only), set against birth defects. Eaten alone, about 38.8 g of cooked liver in one day would reach it if nothing else supplies retinol, and one 100 g serving is 2.6 times the daily UL. EFSA states populations are unlikely to exceed the UL if liver is eaten once a month or less. Averaged over a week, one 100 g serving (retinol 7,728 µg, USDA) is 1,104 µg a day, 37% of the daily UL; EFSA and CoFID figures run 2.2 to 2.4 times higher and average about 90% or more. Retinol in liver varies several-fold by species, feed and country, so 38.8 g is an upper bound on grams (16 to 17 g on those figures).

    Intake: 100 g cooked serving (HC TRA L.6) · Level in the food: 7,728 µg/100 g (listed value, n = 4)

  2. Chicken liver, simmered

    Limit it: weekly or less for a 100 g serving

    75g
    reaches the limit in a day
    Counted from zero: this food eaten alone.
    3,980 µg per 100 g serving

    US food database (USDA SR Legacy) · grade C

    How it’s rated

    Weekly or less: the tolerable upper intake level (UL) for preformed vitamin A is 3,000 µg RE a day (EFSA 2024; Health Canada, preformed only), set against birth defects. Eaten alone, about 75.4 g of cooked chicken liver in one day would reach it if nothing else supplies retinol, and one 100 g serving is 1.33 times the daily UL. EFSA: populations are unlikely to exceed the UL if liver is eaten once a month or less. Averaged over a week, one serving at the USDA figure of 3,978 µg retinol per 100 g is 568 µg a day (19% of the UL); at the CoFID fried figure of 10,500 it is 1,500 µg a day (50%). EFSA's food-composition average for chicken liver is 15,513 µg/100 g, about four times the USDA simmered value; 19.3 g would reach the UL on that basis.

    Intake: 100 g cooked serving (HC TRA L.6) · Level in the food: 3,978 µg/100 g (listed value, n = 4)

  3. Butter, salted

    Nothing to watch: under the limit for a 10 g serving

    450g
    reaches the limit in a day
    Counted from zero: this food eaten alone.
    67.1 µg per 10 g serving

    US food database (USDA SR Legacy) · grade C

    How it’s rated

    No cap: the tolerable upper intake level for preformed vitamin A is 3000 µg RE/day for adults (EFSA 2024). A 10.0 g serving carries 67.1 µg retinol (a listed value), 2.2% of it. No adult average intake is recorded, so only the serving's share is shown.

    Intake: one 10.0 g serving, 70 kg adult (Health Canada TRA H.1) · Level in the food: 671 µg/100 g (listed value)

  4. Butter, unsalted

    Nothing to watch: under the limit for a 10 g serving

    450g
    reaches the limit in a day
    Counted from zero: this food eaten alone.
    67.1 µg per 10 g serving

    US food database (USDA SR Legacy) · grade C

    How it’s rated

    No cap: the tolerable upper intake level for preformed vitamin A is 3000 µg RE/day for adults (EFSA 2024). A 10.0 g serving carries 67.1 µg retinol (a listed value), 2.2% of it. No adult average intake is recorded, so only the serving's share is shown.

    Intake: one 10.0 g serving, 70 kg adult (Health Canada TRA H.1) · Level in the food: 671 µg/100 g (listed value)

  5. Cream cheese

    Nothing to watch: under the limit for a 30 g serving

    990g
    reaches the limit in a day
    Counted from zero: this food eaten alone.
    90.9 µg per 30 g serving

    US food database (USDA SR Legacy) · grade C

    How it’s rated

    No cap: EFSA's 2024 tolerable upper intake level for preformed vitamin A is 3,000 µg RE a day. One serving carries 91 µg retinol, 3.0% of it; USDA lists 303 µg per 100 g (a database listing, not a survey), and about 990 g a day would reach the limit.

    Intake: one 30 g serving a day (HC TRA D.1) · Level in the food: 303 µg/100 g (listed value, n = 4)

  6. Sour cream

    Nothing to watch: under the limit for a 29 g serving

    More than anyone eats
    No realistic amount reaches the limit.
    35.3 µg per 29 g serving

    US food database (USDA SR Legacy) · grade C

    How it’s rated

    The counted figure is 2,500 g a day, about 85 servings a day.

    No cap: EFSA's 2024 tolerable upper intake level (UL) for preformed vitamin A is 3,000 µg retinol equivalents a day. A serving carries 35 µg retinol, 1.2% of the UL, and about 2,479 g a day eaten alone would reach it. The figure is a USDA database listing (121 µg per 100 g), not a survey. A pregnancy-specific limit would be stricter, but EFSA 2024 advises against liver, not dairy.

    Intake: one 29 g serving a day (HC TRA D.14) · Level in the food: 121 µg/100 g (listed value, n = 4)

Sources