The table below gives the Vitamin A and C content of naval foodstuffs which contained them. Where an item is not listed, it is because it contained neither. Some other items which are now known to be high in those vitamins are also listed. However, it should be noted that the figures given are close approximations only and cannot be as accurate as those obtained from modern commercially-produced products; the amount of vitamin (or any other property) in foodstuffs varies according to the variety of the plant, the soil conditions on which it was grown, the weather conditions during its growth and, particularly with Vitamin C, how and for how long it has been stored since harvesting. The same applies to animal products: breed, age, feeding, as well as the cut and storage of meat all give varied readings to the end product.
Vitamin A is necessary for vision in dim light; prolonged deficiency causing night-blindness. It is present in liver (including fish liver), kidneys, dairy produce and eggs, and to a certain extent in carrots, dark green or yellow vegetables, the amount of vitamin increasing with the darkness of the colour of the vegetable. The Vitamin A in meat and dairy products is of a type called retinol, that in vegetables of a type called beta-carotene, which the body converts into retinol and which is usually presented (as here) in ‘retinol-equivalent International Units’, shown as µg. The recommended daily allowance for a man between 19 and 50 is 1000 µg per day. The only standard species of official provisions containing Vitamin A were butter and cheese which would deliver weekly amounts of 1507 µg (butter), 1234 µg (cheese). The substitute items delivered hardly any.
Vitamin C is necessary for the maintenance of healthy connective tissue. Humans are among the few animals which cannot form their own Vitamin C. Prolonged deficiency causes bleeding, especially from capillary blood vessels and the gums, and wounds heal more slowly. If uncorrected, scurvy follows and eventually death. There is some in fresh meat (best is kidney or liver) but most in fruit and vegetables. The recommended daily allowance for a man between 19 and 50 is 90mg per day. Note that although the amount of Vitamin C shown in the table is less in cooked vegetables than raw, this is because the vitamin has leached out into the cooking water; where the end product is soup, the vitamin is still available to the eater.1
| Vit.A (retinol equivalent units) µg per 100g | Vit. C. mg per 100g | |
| Apples (eating) | 0 | 2 |
| Apricots | 91 | 6 |
| Bananas | 0 | 11 |
| Blackcurrants | 0 | 200 raw, 150 cooked2 |
| Butter | 887 | 0 |
| Cabbage (average) | 35 | 49 raw, 20 boiled |
| Carrots | 1260 | 6 raw, 2 boiled |
| Cheese (Cheddar) | 363 | 0 |
| Cocoa (powder) | 7 | 0 |
| Cod liver oil | 18,000 | 0 |
| Eggs (boiled) | 190 | 0 |
| Grapes | 0 | 4 |
| Kidney, pigs (raw) | 160 | 14 |
| Lemon juice | 0 | 40–60 |
| Lime juice | 0 | 25–30 |
| Liver, lambs, fried | 20,600 | 12 |
| Liver, ox, stewed | 20,100 | 15 |
| Mangoes | 300 | 37 |
| Milk (whole) | 55 | 1 |
| Onions | 2 | 10 raw, 6 boiled |
| Orange juice | 0 | 40–50 |
| Plums | 49 | 4 |
| Potatoes3 | 0 | 9 |
| Raisins | 2 | 0 |
| Rosehip syrup | 0 | 200 |
| Sauerkraut | 0 | 10–15 |
| Scurvy grass4 | 0 | 200 |
| Suet | 52 | 0 |
| Watercress | 420 | 662 |
| Wort | 0 | 0.1 |