The spreadsheet below provides an analysis of Omega-3 supplements with low levels of total oxidation and heavy metals – based on the IFOS batch testing.
To view the spreadsheet full screen, use this link.
Let me know if you’ve suggestions for improvements in the comments.
Hi, looking at bare biology’s website they do seem to be high on oxidation, there liquid form comes in at 14.2 but it has 2000mg EPA and 1000mg DHA per 5ml. Does the higher potency make up for the higher oxidation? I know you say you want to be below 10.
Nordic Naturals doesn’t seem to do any IFOS testing on batches from what I can find either do we just trust the brand?
Hi Alex, thanks for this, apologies for the delayed reply. Just checked the oxidation level on their capsules, and their latest test is coming in higher than previously (11, vs 8 previously). In terms of the numbers, whilst ideally I’d like to see sub 10 – IFOS themselves look for <19.5. Another organization called the GOED Voluntary Monograph target <26. So whilst I'm personally looking for as low a score as possible - it suggests scores above 10, but below 20-26 are still acceptable. That being said - I'd like to clarify things a bit further, and if I can,… Read more »
Hi, with a histamine intolerance, I’m wondering if any of these would be usable? Fish typically carries so much histamine unless its been frozen as soon as it comes out of the water. Thank you in advance!
Hi Kasey. Unfortunately I’m not familiar enough with this specific subject to feel confident in giving an answer. One definitely needs to be careful around allergies. You could reach out to the manufacturers and ask them? Most have contact details on their sites. It may also be worth looking into the algae based omega-3 options – which don’t use fish at all. I’ve written a bit about them here.
Hello John, Firstly, thank you for your meticulous work. I noticed that in the table above, for instance product Maximum Omega 2000 from Carlson, you split EPA potency and DHA potency and Total Omega 3 to half, because the IFOS batch results were for 2 capsules, that I comprehend. I wonder should not be the other parameters in the table( total oxidation, mercury level and pcbs) and other ones split in half aswell ? Or if not, then what is the reasoning behind this decision ? If the other parameters would become halfed too, it would drastically change my opinion… Read more »
Hi Peter, thanks for the message. Yes, that’s correct about the table providing data on EPA & DHA per capsule – and IFOS results showing data for 2 capsules – thus having to divide the IFOS values by 2. Regarding the heavy metal and oxidation results that IFOS provide, they aren’t cumulative values like the number of milligrams of EPA & DHA. Instead they’re measures of concentration over a fixed quantity. So for example, the values for PCBs are measured in parts per billion. So whether or not you have 100g of the fish oil or 1g of it, it… Read more »
Thanks for quick response, It makes perfect sense to me now, great explanation. I was looking for some potential product in Europe( resident of Czech Republic) since it is rather expensive to purchase a product from US and UK due to new shipping regulations. Even though i had not sifted through all of IFOS brands for Europe I did find a brand called Life Extension that is based in USA, but got a branch for european market in Netherlands. They sell 2 IFOS certified products- Clearly EPA/DHA fish oil and Super Omega-3 EPA/DHA Fish Oil, Sesame Lignans & Olive Extract.… Read more »
Hey, glad that explanation helped.
Yes, appreciate that the solutions in the post are catered towards an American audience.
Regarding your last point, about radioactivity, whilst everything emits radiation, I’m not aware of any risks of fish oil having dangerous levels of radiation. If I thought it was an issue, I’d pay attention to it, but I’m not aware that it is.
Why do products with total oxidation greater than 10 still get a IFOS certification? What is the number used for the certification? Why have they chosen that?
Hi Bob. Regarding your question “why do products with total oxidation greater than 10 still get IFOS certification?”. If you check the reports, you’ll see the upper thresholds that they use. In the case of total oxidation they appear to have chosen 19.5 to be the upper threshold for a pass.
Presumably they believe anything under that is acceptable. It’s certainly a debatable topic.
I’d imagine one bias they have, is that if they choose too low a number, they risk rejecting many of their current and future customer’s products.
Even though only 1 product is mentioned under each brand – am I safe to assume other fish oil products are also safe? For example I was planning to buy the liquid form of Bare Biology
Hi Rachael, great question, and it was something I wondered about too. From what I can tell, it varies between brands. Some appear to be using the same oil source across all their products, whilst others seem not to be. In the specific case of Bare Biology, the good news is that they have IFOS tests for pretty much all their products. You can download the test results for that specific product here. I just downloaded their latest (Aug 30, 2023) batch result, and the oxidation level was pretty similar to the one I mentioned in the above table (9.62,… Read more »
Thanks so much John that’s really helpful!
Any prenatal omegas?
Hi Gosha. Did you have a look at the post discussing supplements Rhonda took when she was pregnant? With Omega-3s, there are two main ones (DHA & EPA), and Rhonda focused on making sure she was getting enough DHA for the child’s growing brain. She didn’t take a supplement that was labelled as “prenatal”. Why do I mention this? I think if you focus on finding an omega-3 supplement that has Prenatal on the packaging/branding, you’ll really limit your options. Instead, it may be beneficial to observe the market with a focus on making sure you’re getting a good amount… Read more »
Hi John, thank you for sharing the information. I followed your link and looked up more Canadian brands because I am from Canada. I did all of the comparisons in pricing, ratio of omega 3 in each serving, total oxidation and heavy metals and I found the best deal with high ratio and high quality omega 3 brand in Canada is CanPrev. IFOS has the reports of this brand for all of the latest batches as well. I thought I should share this information to you and anyone in Canada who is interested.
Hi Trinh. Great tip finding that product. As you say – seems to tick all the right boxes. I’m sure that’ll be helpful to other Canadians. Have added it to the list. Thanks!
Thanks for posting!