Vitamin B12, or Cobalamin, is an essential vitamin necessary for the maintenance of the nervous system and for preventing anemia. Fish is a good source of vitamin B12, but what about canned fish?

Canned fish can be a great source of vitamin B12. Canned foods are typically more affordable than fresh, with greater availability. The downside is that canned foods typically have a lot of added sodium or are packed in less desirable oils. As such, try to choose canned fish that is low in sodium and water packed instead of oil packed.

Canned fish high in vitamin B12 includes canned oysters, clams, salmon, sardines, mackerel, crab, tuna, shrimp, cod, and anchovies. The values below are for a given serving size. Even if you don't eat such a large serving as 1 cup of fish, you can simply divide the numbers in half to get the amount for half a cup or about 4 ounces. The daily value for vitamin B12 is 2.4μg per day, which has been recently reduced from 6μg per the USDA food labeling standards.

Use the nutrient ranking tool to search for fish high in vitamin b12 by a standard serving size, like 100 grams or 200 calories. For different kinds of foods, see the article on foods high in vitamin B12.