Given two meals: Meal A contains 8,000 µg beta-carotene from cooked sweet potato with 10 g added oil; Meal B contains 500 µg retinol from canned fish, which meal likely supplies more active vitamin A to tissues? Assume beta-carotene bioavailability ~40% with fat and conversion 12:1; retinol bioavailability ~80%. Show reasoning and select best interpretation.

• A. Meal B provides more usable vitamin A; the canned fish yields about 400 µg available retinol vs about 267 µg retinol equivalents from the sweet potato plus oil.
• B. Neither meal provides usable vitamin A because dietary absorption of vitamin A requires co-ingestion of vitamin K and without that vitamin A cannot be transported to tissues, making both options ineffective regardless of their carotenoid or retinol content.
• C. Meal A provides more usable vitamin A because plant beta-carotene converts at a 1:1 ratio when consumed with fat, so 8,000 µg yields 8,000 µg retinol equivalents and far exceeds the canned fish amount.
• D. Both meals provide essentially equal usable vitamin A because preformed retinol and beta-carotene bioavailability average out in typical diets and conversion factors are negligible when both fat and protein are present in a mixed meal.

Answer: (A)