Which fish oil and omega-3 brands are third-party tested?
Our pick for each type, each format ranked separately: Fish Oil, capsules, softgels and tablets: Nature Made Omega-3 from Fish Oil 1200 mg (100 softgels); Algal Oil: Momentous Vegan Omega-3 (60 capsules) (before delivery). Types with no certified product are listed below. Where to buy
13 of the 71 fish, algal and krill oil products we track are confirmed at the exact package by a certifier. 9 more are listed by a program that names no package (IFOS). One matches a row in USP's directory that is not yet confirmed for the package we price. 39 appear in no database we searched. 9 more are in a directory we searched, but only under a program this site does not record (IGEN, IKOS or IAOS).
NSF names packages by size and count against each certificate. A brand can sell the same formula in several sizes, or several flavors, and have one of them named, so “this brand is NSF certified” can be true while the bottle in your hand is not one NSF names.
Two things are separate here and easy to confuse. Certification says an outside program tested the product; a stated EPA and DHA amount says the label tells you what you are buying. A product can have either without the other. Of the 5 rows with no price per dose, 4 state no combined EPA and DHA amount and 1 states an amount but has no current price at a retailer we track.
Confirmed at this exact package, 13
The strongest evidence available here. For NSF, the listing names the package size sold; it was opened, its package text recorded, and its ID is on the product page. For USP, which names products rather than packages, the product is in USP's directory and the USP Verified Mark is on this package's own label, and both are on the product page.
| Product | Type | Per 1,000 mg EPA+DHA | Certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nature Made Omega-3 from Fish Oil 1200 mg (100 softgels) | Fish Oil, softgels | $0.421 | USP Verified, product in directory, mark on label |
| Nature Made Fish Oil 1000 mg (250 softgels) | Fish Oil, softgels | $0.473 | USP Verified, product in directory, mark on label |
| Bare Performance Nutrition Strong Omega (60 softgels) | Fish Oil, softgels | $0.517 | 1655566 |
| Nature Made Fish Oil 1200 mg (230 softgels) | Fish Oil, softgels | $0.527 | USP Verified, product in directory, mark on label |
| Nature Made Fish Oil 1200 mg (150 softgels) | Fish Oil, softgels | $0.549 | USP Verified, product in directory, mark on label |
| Nature Made Fish Oil 1200 mg (100 softgels) | Fish Oil, softgels | $0.583 | USP Verified, product in directory, mark on label |
| Core Med Science Omega-3 TG Softgels (60 count) | Fish Oil, softgels | $0.635 | 1779624 |
| Nature Made Fish Oil 1000 mg (90 softgels) | Fish Oil, softgels | $0.662 | USP Verified, product in directory, mark on label |
| Thorne Super EPA, NSF Certified for Sport (90 softgels) | Fish Oil, softgels | $0.719 | 1237707 |
| Momentous Omega-3 (60 softgels) | Fish Oil, softgels | $0.833 | 1671910 |
| Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega-D3 Sport (60 softgels) (last known price, Oct 17) | Fish Oil, softgels | $0.888 | 1204292 |
| Momentous Vegan Omega-3 (60 capsules) | Algal Oil | $1.83 | 1696700 |
| BulkSupplements.com Fish Oil 1000 mg Softgels (240 count) | Fish Oil, softgels | Unknown | 1825881 |
Certified, no package named, 9
Certified by a program that lists a product rather than a package: Informed Sport, Informed Choice and IFOS (International Fish Oil Standards) name no tub, bottle or count, so a listing covers the product, not a package size. The lot printed on a package can be checked against the lots the certifier lists. USP names no package either; a USP package counts as confirmed only when USP's directory lists the product and the package's own label carries the USP mark, which USP says is how a buyer can tell a product is verified. Informed Sport and IFOS test every batch; Informed Choice tests periodically, by each program's own description. That is real independent testing of the product; it is not a statement that the package in your hand was the one tested.
Listed, not confirmed for this package, 1
USP's directory holds a row matching the product. USP names no package, so confirming one takes two things, the row filed under this brand and the USP Verified Mark on this label, and here they are not both settled yet. Each product page says which. Neither confirmed nor absent.
| Product | Type | Per 1,000 mg EPA+DHA | Certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nature Made Omega-3 from Fish & Algae Oil 1200 mg (60 softgels) | Fish Oil + Algae Oil, softgels | $0.555 | USP Verified, directory row not yet confirmed for this package |
Searched, and not found, 48
Each of these is absent from every program list we checked it against. Every one was checked against NSF Certified for Sport, and each product page names any other program. These programs certify what a company submits to them, so a product can be absent from a list simply because it was never entered, which is not a finding against it. 9 of these are in a directory we searched, but only under IGEN, IKOS or IAOS, programs this site does not record; the certificate column names them.
NSF Certified for Sport, the Informed programs' published product lists, the IFOS directory and USP's directory are each read in full, and each product page names the day. A product missing from this page has not failed a check. It has not had one.
Where to buy: the pick for each type
The pick is the cheapest certified product, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no adverse finding on record, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving; per delivered dose where the retailer publishes a delivery rate. Where none does, it is the cheapest such product before delivery, and it says how far the order is from free delivery. It is the same pick the category page shows.
How these lines are chosen
Among 54 products and 54 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one clears the certification bar; what holds it back is on its line:
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one misses at least one bar, and says which:
How these lines are chosen
Among 4 products and 4 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below. No product here that clears every other bar publishes a delivery rate below its free-delivery threshold, so the pick is priced before delivery.
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one misses at least one bar, and says which:
- How many fish oil capsules make 1,000 mg of EPA and DHA?
- What is the cheapest NSF certified fish oil or omega-3?
- Krill oil vs fish oil: which costs less per dose of EPA and DHA?
- Is Sports Research fish oil third party tested?
- Is Momentous fish oil NSF certified?
- What is the cheapest omega-3 per 1,000 mg of EPA+DHA?
Full comparison of every product in this category: Omega-3. Every question we answer: the question index.
What this rests on: prices we last recorded at the retailer named on each product page, which go stale, and each page says when it was checked; the products we track, not every product sold, and Amazon and Walmart are not among the stores; listings and labels read at the source, each linked from the page. Found an error? Tell us. The full method: How we compare.