Top 10 Foods and Drinks Highest in Fluoride

Fluoride is a mineral renowned for strengthening teeth helping to prevent cavities and related diseases. Since the amount of fluoride in foods can fluctuate greatly it is typically added to most public water supplies.

According to the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the amount of fluoride you need depends on your body mass (weight). Children typically need 0.5mg (500μg) per day, while adults need 3-4mg (3000-4000μg) of fluoride each day. For the adequate intake (%AI) calculations below 4mg (4000μg) was used. Since consuming too much fluoride can have ill health effects, the NLM sets the upper limit at 10mg, or 10,000μg. This is just 2.5 times the adequate intake.

Fluoride tends to get concentrated in tea, coffee, shellfish, grapes (raisins, wine, grape juice), artificial sweeteners, sodas, potatoes, flavored popsicles, baby foods, broths, stews, and hot cereals made with tap water. Of these water, tea, coffee, shellfish, potatoes, and grapes can be considered healthy. All other sources should be avoided. Further sugary or carbonated drinks can lead to more tooth decay, wiping out any good effect from the fluoride.

For all these fluoride foods and drinks, if fluoride fortified water was used in their creation, they will have even more fluoride. Below are the top 10 sources of fluoride, for more, see the extended list of fluoride rich foods and drinks.