1. Foods with Vitamin D
In the 1930s, a vitamin D deficiency disease called rickets was a major public health problem in the United States so a milk fortification program was implemented nearly eliminating this disorder.4,9 Currently, about 98% of the milk supply in the US is fortified with 400 International Units (IU) of vitamin D per quart.Although milk is fortified with vitamin D, dairy products made from milk, such as cheese and ice creams, are generally not fortified with vitamin D.
There are only a few foods that are good sources of vitamin D,4 so vitamin D supplements are often recommended unless you are exposed to sunlight on your skin regularly. Suggested dietary sources of vitamin D are listed below.
Table 1: Selected food sources of vitamin D10-12
Food | International Units(IU) per serving | Percent DV DailyValue)* |
| Pure Cod liver oil, 1 Tablespoon (Note: most refined cod liver oils today have the vitamin D removed! Check your label to be certain.) | 1,360 | 340 |
| Salmon, cooked, 3½ ounces | 360 | 90 |
| Mackerel, cooked, 3½ ounces | 345 | 90 |
| Tuna fish, canned in oil, 3 ounces | 200 | 50 |
| Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 1¾ ounces | 250 | 70 |
| Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D fortified, 1 cup | 98 | 25 |
| Margarine, fortified, 1 Tablespoon | 60 | 15 |
| Pudding, prepared from mix and made with vitamin D fortified milk, ½ cup | 50 | 10 |
| Ready-to-eat cereals fortified with 10% of the DV for vitamin D, ¾ cup to 1 cup servings (servings vary according to the brand) | 40 | 10 |
| Egg, 1 whole (vitamin D is found in egg yolk) | 20 | 6 |
| Liver, beef, cooked, 3½ ounces | 15 | 4 |
| Cheese, Swiss, 1 ounce | 12 | 4 |
