What is B-12 derived from? Isn't it always from an animal product?

Answer 1

B12 doesn't come from animals, it comes from bacteria inside the animals.

We can grow the same kind of bacteria in labs and get all the vitamin B12 we need without any animal involvement.

Answer 2

Vitamin B-12 originaly comes from the bacteria in soil. But can be found nearly anywere that bacteria can be found, under your finger nails, on your feet, even inside your large intestine (but your body can't absorbe it from this location).

Humans generaly like to live clean and bacteria free doing things like washing our bodies and hands, washing and cleaning our habitat, washing and cleaning our food etc. These habits can make getting Vitamin B-12 a bit difficult for a human unless of course you eat animal products or take a vitamin if your are a vegan.

Lol I supose you could also eat unwashed veggies with some soil on them, and don't bother to wash your hands, and lick the juice from fruit you eat off your dirty hand (who knows where those hands have been!) But that would be disgusting and the lack of hygiene would probably affect your health and would not be worth it in the long run.

Other animals (lets start with herbiviores) have an easy time getting B-12 because they are not as concerned with cleanliness as humans are and often ingest and eat things that are close to the ground or touching the soil, many of them also eat feces wich is loaded with B-12. These are just a few examples

The carnivorous animals also have a easy time getting B-12 compared to humans. They eat the flesh of the herbivores (B-12 is stored in the muscle of animals as well as other body parts, even in humans) and gain B-12 from that, they also eat the feces of other inimals and will ingest things that are touching or close to the soil.

Our requirement for B-12 is extremely low but very important for good health.

Hope this helps

Answer 3

My undereducated response: Seeing how PETA puts a bunch of B12 containing cereals on their "Can't believe it's vegan" list, and Silk soy milk contains B12 but is vegan I'd say no. In animal products, it's derived from animals, but otherwise I'm sure that they have anothersource. To read more about everything that you'd care to know, check here.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12

Here, I'll give you some interesting quotes from the article. "Claimed sources of B12 that have been shown through direct studies[15] of vegans to be inadequate or unreliable include, nori (a seaweed), barley grass, and human gut bacteria. ..A natural vegan source of B12 is the Chinese herb Dang Gui (Angelica sinensis) [18]. The herb is used in Traditional Chinese medicine for treating anemia.[1] Other potential sources of B12 for vegans include Indonesian tempeh [2], ontjom, and other fermented food products. Spirulina, an algae that has recently gained popularity as a dietary supplement, may also contain some B12. Another source of B12 is yeast spreads, such as Marmite and Vegemite, which are suitable for vegetarians and vegans."

Answer 4

Animal products and some bacteria, which is where the B12 in supplements and fortified foods comes from. Many cereals are fortified normally to catch people who don't get enough, and soy is often fortified too.
There are claimed sources of B12 from plants, but none of them in any source that it seems can be used by the body. The only reliable sources of B12 are animal products, supplements and fortified foods.

Answer 5

B-12, when used to fortify foods, is generally synthetic or fungal in origin. While it is commonly found in animal products, it is now more readily available in soy milks, meat analogues, and Vegetarian Support Formula (Red Star T-6635+) nutritional yeast.