Which fish oil and omega-3 brands are third-party tested?

Our pick for each type: Fish Oil: Sports Research Alaskan Omega-3 Fish Oil, Triple Strength 1250 mg (240 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 61 fish, algal and krill oil products we track have their exact package named by a certifier. 9 more are certified by production batch instead, which names no package. Another 1 comes from a product line a certifier lists, but at a package size the certificate does not name. One matches a row in USP's directory that is not yet confirmed for the package we price. The remaining 37 appear in no database we searched.

A certifier lists a specific package against each certificate. A brand can sell the same formula in several sizes, or several flavors, and have one of them listed, so “this brand is NSF certified” can be true while the tub in your hand is not the tub NSF tested. The middle group below is that gap.

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, and the rows with no price per dose are the ones whose labels do not state it.

Certifier names 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.

Certified batch by batch, no package named, 9

Certified, but by production batch rather than by package: Informed Sport, Informed Choice and IFOS test and report lot by lot, so their listings name no tub, bottle or count. That is real independent testing of the product; it is not a statement that the package in your hand was the one tested.

Listed, but not at this size, 1

The brand and product appear in the database at a different package size. Not a failure, and not a confirmation either.

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.

Searched, and not found, 37

Not listed by NSF Certified for Sport when we read its full directory. These programs certify what a company submits to them, so a product can be absent from the database simply because it was never entered, which is not a finding against it.

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.

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.