Vitamins and Minerals in Caviar

A 15 g serving of salted sturgeon caviar can supply more than 100% of both the EU and US labelling reference amounts for vitamin B12. That is the standout figure in Japan's food composition tables. Alongside it sit vitamins D and E, iron, zinc and other micronutrients, each with a different contribution to make. But no single nutrient profile describes every tin.

The useful question is how much arrives in a portion. To answer it, start with the food itself: a sturgeon entry and a broad “black and red caviar” entry are not interchangeable.

Vitamins and minerals in a serving

Vitamin B12 leads this table by a considerable margin. The figures come from Japan's MEXT, Standard Tables of Food Composition, eighth edition, 2023 supplement, item 10113, “caviar, salted product”. Its scientific identification, Acipenser spp., specifies sturgeons without naming one species. The table below selects nutrients from that entry rather than reproducing every reported value.

The standard serving used here is 15 g, about half an ounce. This is a comparison portion, not a regulatory serving size or advice to eat caviar daily. Each portion value is the published 100 g figure multiplied by 0.15. Percentages use the unrounded result, then round to the nearest whole number.

Read the units closely: 1 mg is 1,000 µg. A displayed 0% means less than 0.5% after rounding here. It does not mean the nutrient is absent.

What the percentages mean

The same portion can earn different percentages without containing a different amount of anything. Vitamin D makes the point neatly: the EU nutrient reference value is 5 µg, while the US Daily Value is 20 µg. The same 0.15 µg portion therefore supplies 3% and about 1%, respectively.

An EU nutrient reference value, or NRV, is an adult labelling reference set out in Annex XIII of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. Individual needs depend on factors including age and life stage. The US figures use FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged four and over, rather than the separate values for pregnancy, breastfeeding or younger children.

UK labels use the same vitamin and mineral NRV figures shown here. Great Britain follows the applicable assimilated food information legislation; EU food information rules continue to apply in Northern Ireland. These labelling rules are distinct from the registers governing health claims.

Use the percentages to compare nutrient amounts with labelling references. They do not show that residents of one country need four times as much vitamin D as those of another.

Why the word “caviar” is not enough

A database search for “caviar” may bring back more than salted sturgeon roe. Generic entries may group sturgeon roe with roe from other fish, making the food's identity as important as the figures beside it.

The USDA entry “Fish, caviar, black and red, granular”, NDB number 15012, uses a broad description that does not establish the species in its underlying samples. Its figures cannot be treated as a measured profile of beluga, Siberian sturgeon or a particular farm's caviar.

Several decimal places give a number precision on the page, not a promise of identical composition in every spoonful.

Selenium shows why this matters. The Japanese entry leaves it unreported. USDA's archived Standard Reference Release 27 supplies the following figure for its broader category, kept separate here because the sources should not be treated as describing the same samples.

This is the source of a frequently repeated selenium figure. USDA records no analytical data points for it in this entry, so it cannot establish the selenium content of a particular sturgeon product. Equally, the Japanese table's empty field means unreported, not zero.

Why sources give different figures

Before comparing nutrient numbers, compare the food's identity and whether it is raw roe or a salted product, then check the edition, nutrient units and whether each value was measured, calculated or estimated. A newer publication date alone does not mean every nutrient was reanalysed.

National food tables are reference datasets, not interchangeable laboratory reports. USDA's Standard Reference reports distinguish analytical data from calculated or estimated figures and explain that blanks can reflect a lack of reliable data. Several decimal places give a number precision on the page, not a promise of identical composition in every spoonful.

Water matters too. When water is lost, a nutrient's concentration per 100 g can rise without any of that nutrient being added. The entries used here cannot separate this effect from differences in the foods or analytical records. Picking the highest figure from each source would assemble a nutrient profile that neither source reports.

How to read your tin's figures

For the tin in front of you, start with information specific to that product and check what weight it describes. Before comparing a declaration per serving with this article, check and, where necessary, scale the serving weight. A figure per 100 g can be scaled directly.

To convert a manufacturer's verified amount per 100 g into a 15 g portion, use the same multiplication as above. Leave missing micronutrient declarations unfilled rather than borrowing a number from another brand, species or database category. A vitamin missing from the label may still be present in the food.

These tables focus on micronutrients, not the whole nutritional picture. For energy, protein and fats, turn to the wider nutritional picture. The caviar nutrition hub brings the related topics together.

Keep minerals, salt and safety separate

Essential minerals and contaminants answer different questions. Iron, zinc and selenium belong in nutrient tables because they are essential nutrients. Mercury, lead and other contaminants need assessment by substance, concentration and exposure. A vitamin and mineral table cannot establish a product's safety; mercury and contaminants covers that question separately.

Sodium is deliberately outside these tables. Its relationship to salt, the reading of a product's declaration and the importance of the amount are covered in salt in caviar. Keeping that discussion separate makes the micronutrient contributions easier to read.

Vitamin A deserves particular attention during pregnancy. NHS guidance in England advises against supplements containing vitamin A as retinol and against liver and liver products during pregnancy. It sets no caviar portion limit. For the broader food safety discussion, use caviar during pregnancy, rather than translating that advice into an invented caviar threshold. A midwife, pharmacist or doctor can help with personal concerns.

Nutrient amounts are not health promises

A nutrient amount describes composition, not a health outcome. These tables do not establish that eating caviar prevents or treats a condition. Nor does a figure above 100% measure the benefit someone will receive or give a reason to eat more.

Commercial claims have their own rules. In EU commercial communications, Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 controls nutrition and health claims, including permitted wording and the conditions attached to it.

Great Britain has its own nutrition and health claims register under the applicable assimilated framework; Northern Ireland continues to use the EU system. A generic database entry does not automatically authorise a claim on a product.

In the US, FDA nutrient-content terms such as “good source” and “high” have defined conditions under 21 CFR 101.54, generally assessed per reference amount customarily consumed. Health claims form a separate category with their own requirements.

The 15 g comparison used here is a way to read the figures, not a substitute for a commercial label assessment in any of these jurisdictions.