FolicFree

The whole-food list

Foods with no folic acid, by default.

These are single-ingredient, unprocessed foods widely available across UK supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Asda, Waitrose, M&S, Aldi, Lidl), local butchers and greengrocers. Because they haven't been fortified, they contain zero added synthetic folic acid — while still providing natural dietary folates, minerals and healthy fats.

8 categories · 131 entries

Fresh meats, poultry, game & offal

Pure, unadulterated cuts are never fortified. Offal carries the highest natural folate content of all meats.

Tip: Crucial UK tip: avoid standard British sausages, burgers and pre-seasoned meats — the traditional "rusk" in UK sausages is almost always made from fortified white wheat flour. Stick to pure, unadulterated cuts.

Beef

  • Steaks: sirloin, ribeye, rump, fillet, T-bone, flat iron, skirt, flank
  • Roasting & slow-cooking: brisket, topside, silverside, chuck steak, braising/casserole steak, shin of beef, oxtail, short ribs
  • Mince: 5%, 10%, 15% or 20% pure beef mince (unseasoned)

Lamb & mutton

  • Chops & steaks: loin chops, chump chops, cutlets, leg steaks
  • Joints & cuts: whole/half leg of lamb, shoulder (on the bone or rolled), lamb shanks, neck fillets/rings, breast of lamb
  • Mince: 100% pure lamb mince

Pork

  • Pork loin chops, pork belly slices/slabs, pork tenderloin (fillet)
  • Pork shoulder/collar (roasting or pulled pork), leg of pork joints, diced pork
  • Bacon: unbreaded, unglazed dry-cured back or streaky bacon (simple cures: pork, salt, preservatives)

Poultry

  • Chicken: whole birds, breast fillets, thighs (bone-in or skinless/boneless), drumsticks, wings, gizzards
  • Turkey: whole birds, breast crowns/steaks, turkey thigh mince, diced turkey
  • Duck & goose: whole duck, Gressingham duck breast fillets, duck legs, whole goose

Game (common in Waitrose, M&S, butchers, and in season)

  • Venison: steaks, haunch roasts, diced casserole meat, mince
  • Pheasant, partridge, wood pigeon breasts, rabbit, guinea fowl

Offal (the highest natural folate content of all meats)

  • Beef liver
  • Lamb liver
  • Chicken livers
  • Ox kidney
  • Lamb kidneys
  • Beef heart
  • Ox tongue

Fish and seafood

Tip: Buy fresh or frozen plain fish; avoid pre-battered, breadcrumbed, or fish in store-bought flour-thickened white/parsley sauces.

White fish

  • Cod, haddock, pollock, hake, coley, whiting
  • Sea bass fillets, sea bream, halibut, plaice, lemon sole, dover sole
  • Monkfish tails, turbot, skate wings

Oily fish (rich in natural nutrients and omega-3s)

  • Scottish salmon: whole sides, fillets, wild/farmed; plain oak-smoked slices
  • Mackerel: fresh whole, fresh fillets, or plain vacuum-packed smoked
  • Fresh sardines, pilchards, trout (rainbow or brown), kippers (smoked herring)
  • Fresh tuna steaks, fresh anchovies

Shellfish & molluscs

  • Prawns: king prawns (raw or cooked), Atlantic cold-water prawns, tiger prawns
  • Crab (whole brown crab, dressed crab, white/brown meat pots), lobster, langoustines
  • Mussels (fresh ropes or plain cooked frozen meats), scallops (king or queen), oysters
  • Squid/calamari (tubes or rings, unbattered), octopus, clams, cockles

Plain tinned fish

  • Tinned tuna (in spring water, brine or olive oil)
  • Tinned wild salmon, tinned mackerel fillets, anchovy fillets in olive oil
  • Tinned sardines in oil or tomato juice — check tomato juice for flour thickeners

Dairy and eggs

Eggs

  • Chicken eggs (free-range, organic, rich yolk, large, medium)
  • Duck eggs
  • Quail eggs (widely stocked in major UK supermarkets)

Milk & cream

  • Whole milk, semi-skimmed, skimmed
  • Channel Island / Jersey & Guernsey milk (unhomogenised, gold top)
  • Double cream, single cream, whipping cream, clotted cream, soured cream, crème fraîche

Butter & ghee

  • Salted butter
  • Unsalted butter (Kerrygold, Lurpak, English farmhouse butters)
  • Cultured butter
  • Clarified butter / ghee

Hard & semi-hard cheeses

  • British classics: cheddar (mild to vintage/cave-aged), red Leicester, double Gloucester, Wensleydale, Lancashire, cheshire, Caerphilly
  • Continental staples: Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan), Grana Padano, Pecorino, Manchego, Gruyère, Comté, Emmental, Gouda, Edam

Soft & fresh cheeses

  • Fresh mozzarella balls, burrata, buffalo mozzarella
  • Ricotta, mascarpone, cottage cheese (plain), paneer
  • Halloumi, feta, plain cream cheese (unflavoured)

Blue & soft-ripened cheeses

  • Stilton (blue and white), Shropshire Blue, Gorgonzola, Roquefort
  • Brie, camembert, French goat's cheese logs (chèvre)

Yoghurt & fermented dairy

  • Authentic Greek yoghurt (e.g. Fage Total 0%, 5%)
  • Natural whole-milk yoghurt, plain set yoghurt
  • Plain kefir, plain skyr, plain quark

Fresh and frozen vegetables

Vegetables — particularly greens — are the primary source of natural, unadulterated 5-MTHF folate.

Dark leafy greens (the natural folate champions)

  • Spinach (baby spinach, mature spinach)
  • Curly kale, cavolo nero (Tuscan black kale), spring greens
  • Savoy cabbage, sweetheart/Hispi cabbage, Swiss chard
  • Watercress, rocket (arugula), lamb's lettuce, romaine/Cos lettuce
  • Pak choi, tatsoi

Cruciferous vegetables

  • Broccoli heads, Tenderstem (long stem) broccoli, purple sprouting broccoli
  • Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Romanesco, kohlrabi
  • White cabbage, red cabbage

Stem & pod vegetables

  • Asparagus spears
  • Green fine beans (haricots verts), runner beans, mangetout, sugar snap peas
  • Broad beans (fava beans), globe artichokes, celery

Salad & vine vegetables

  • Tomatoes (cherry, plum, vine, beefsteak, San Marzano)
  • Cucumbers, bell peppers (red, yellow, green, orange)
  • Courgettes (zucchini), aubergines (eggplant), radishes, fennel bulbs

Alliums (bulbs)

  • Brown, red and white onions
  • Shallots, banana shallots
  • Leeks, spring onions (scallions)
  • Garlic bulbs, wild garlic (seasonal)

Mushrooms

  • White button, chestnut/cremini, portobello
  • Shiitake, king oyster
  • Wild chanterelle

Frozen vegetables (plain, no added butter sauces)

  • Garden peas, petit pois
  • Frozen chopped spinach blocks, frozen cut green beans
  • Frozen sweetcorn, frozen edamame (soya beans)
  • Frozen broccoli/cauliflower florets

Fresh and dried fruits

Berries & currants

  • Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries
  • Blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries
  • Cherries, cranberries

Orchard & stone fruits

  • Apples (Gala, Braeburn, Pink Lady, Cox, Granny Smith, Bramley cooking apples)
  • Pears (Conference, Williams, Rocha, Comice)
  • Plums (Victoria, black amber), peaches, nectarines, apricots

Citrus fruits (significant sources of natural folate)

  • Oranges (navel, Valencia, blood oranges)
  • Clementines, mandarins, satsumas
  • Grapefruits (pink and white), lemons, limes

Exotics & melons

  • Avocados (Hass, Fuerte — exceptional natural folate density)
  • Bananas, pineapples, mangoes, papayas, passion fruit
  • Kiwi fruit (green and SunGold), pomegranates, fresh figs
  • Watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe melon, Galia melon

Dried fruit (check for plain, un-floured versions)

  • Medjool dates, Deglet Noor dates, dried soft figs
  • Prunes (dried plums), dried apricots
  • Sultanas, raisins, currants, dried apple rings

Raw & plain nuts and seeds

Tree nuts (raw, roasted or salted — but unbattered/uncoated)

  • Walnuts, almonds (whole, flaked, blanched), brazil nuts
  • Cashews, hazelnuts (cobnuts), pecans
  • Macadamia nuts, pistachios (in shell or shelled), pine nuts

Seeds

  • Pumpkin seeds (pepitas), sunflower seeds
  • Golden linseeds (flaxseeds), brown linseeds
  • Chia seeds (black or white), hemp seeds (shelled hemp hearts)
  • White sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, poppy seeds

Peanuts & legume nuts

  • Monkey nuts (peanuts in the whole roasted shell)
  • Plain blanched peanuts
  • Raw peanuts

100% pure nut & seed butters (ingredients: 100% nuts/seeds only)

  • 100% peanut butter (e.g. Meridian, Whole Earth 100%, Pip & Nut)
  • 100% almond butter, 100% cashew butter
  • 100% tahini (pure crushed sesame paste)

Dried beans, peas and lentils (pulses)

Naturally high in bioavailable folates; choose raw dried packs or tinned in water/salt only.

Lentils

  • Red split lentils, green lentils, brown lentils
  • Puy lentils (French green lentils), beluga black lentils
  • Yellow split lentils (chana dal / toor dal)

Chickpeas

  • Whole dried chickpeas, tinned chickpeas in water
  • Gram flour / besan (100% pure chickpea flour — an unfortified, grain-free baking alternative)

Beans (dry or tinned in spring water)

  • Black beans, red kidney beans, cannellini beans
  • Butter beans (lima beans), haricot beans, borlotti beans
  • Pinto beans, black-eyed beans, flageolet beans
  • Edamame / whole soya beans

Peas

  • Dried green split peas, yellow split peas
  • Whole dried marrowfat peas

Tubers and root crops

Potatoes (everyday British supermarket varieties)

  • Baking & mash: Maris Piper, King Edward, Russet
  • Salads & boiling: Charlotte, Jersey Royals (seasonal), baby new potatoes, Nicola, Anya
  • All-rounders: Desiree, Rooster, Saxon

Sweet potatoes

  • Orange sweet potatoes (Beauregard)
  • White sweet potatoes
  • Purple sweet potatoes

Root vegetables

  • Carrots (standard, Chantenay, heritage multi-coloured), parsnips
  • Swede (rutabaga), turnips
  • Beetroot: raw bunches with leaves, or vacuum-packed cooked beetroot in plain water — avoid sweetened/pickled versions containing grain vinegar or modified starch
  • Celeriac (celery root), Jerusalem artichokes, daikon (mooli radish)
  • Fresh horseradish root, fresh ginger root, fresh turmeric root

The shopping basket test

  1. 1If an item has no barcoded ingredients list because it came out of the ground, off a tree, out of the sea, or from a farm butcher, it is 100% free of synthetic folic acid.
  2. 2If it comes in a box, tin, or tub, you only need to verify one line on the packaging: make sure the ingredients panel does not state “Folic Acid”, “Pteroylmonoglutamic Acid”, or unlabelled “Wheat Flour” (which by UK law is fortified).
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