Skip to content
In The Kibble
My dogs

Ingredient file // Ingredient

Vitamin B12

Printed as “Vitamin B12 Supplement” on some labels. Same ingredient.

A B vitamin built around a cobalt atom, found naturally only in animal tissue.

Our read // In our catalog

In 1 of every 3 foods we track

Share of foods that list it

36%

814 of the 2,250 foods we track, from 44 brands. 643 dry dog food, 145 wet dog food, 17 frozen dog food.

Each square is 1% of the catalog

Where it sits on the label

Median position 39. In the top five of 0 foods, so it is usually a minor ingredient.

Top five List position, heaviest first

Above the salt

2%

Usually listed after the salt, which caps it at roughly 1% of the recipe in 98% of foods.

Price per lb

Foods with it $2.96
All foods $3.24

Median of the cheapest bag price across 571 priced foods, 9% below the catalog. The price is the food's, not the ingredient's.

Who leans on it

15%

of the foods that list it are from Blue. 44 brands use it in total.

What it is

Why it turns up in dog food

  • Essential for red blood cell formation and nerve function. Plant-heavy recipes rely on it being added.

Who uses it

Brands, best sellers and the company it keeps

Top brands, by foods that list it

  1. Blue 120
  2. Nulo 82
  3. Wellness 71
  4. Nutro 66
  5. Stella & Chewy's 65
  6. Diamond 30
  7. Bil-Jac 26
  8. Health Extension 25
  9. Horizon 22
  10. Earthborn Holistic 20

Plus 34 more brands.

Amazon best sellers that list it

  1. #1 Blue Life Protection Formula Adult Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe Dry Dog Food
  2. #7 Blue Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe Dry Dog Food
  3. #10 Diamond Naturals Skin & Coat Formula All Life Stages Salmon & Potato Formula Dry Dog Food
  4. #17 Taste of the Wild High Prairie Canine Recipe with Roasted Bison & Roasted Venison Dry Dog Food
  5. #21 Cesar Filet Mignon Flavor & Spring Vegetables Garnish Dry Dog Food
  6. #27 Blue Life Protection Formula Senior Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe Dry Dog Food
  7. #30 Blue Life Protection Formula Puppy Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe Dry Dog Food
  8. #34 Purina One SmartBlend Healthy Weight High Protein Formula Adult Premium Dry Dog Food

Rank on Amazon's dog food best seller list, checked October 2026.

Usually listed with, share of the foods that list it

  1. Chicken Fat 42%
  2. Flaxseed 40%
  3. Chicken 40%
  4. Peas 37%
  5. Chicken Meal 36%
  6. Natural Flavor 32%
  7. Oatmeal 21%
  8. Brown Rice 20%
  9. Barley 19%
  10. Dried Plain Beet Pulp 17%
  11. Lentils 16%
  12. Sweet Potatoes 16%

On labels as

Other names for this

Manufacturers do not all use the same wording. These all mean the same thing.

Vitamin B-12 Supplement Vitamin B12 Supplement
An ingredient on its own tells you very little. What matters is how much of it there is and where it sits in the list. That is why we weigh the top five rather than reacting to any single name further down. Back to the wiki

Keep In The Know,
Know What's In The Bowl

Recall alerts by email. We only write when a dog food recall is published.
DOUBLE OPT-IN // ONE CLICK TO STOP // NEVER SHARED