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. 2015 Jan 21;5:7928. doi: 10.1038/srep07928

Table 1. List of retail fish oils tested. Adj, adjusted for labelled n-3 PUFA content to reflect the oxidation products per 300 mg combined EPA + DHA; AV, anisidine value; BBD, time to best before date as per label; PV, peroxide value; RRP, recommended retail price in US dollars per gram of fish oil (equivalent to one capsule in most cases); Totox, total oxidation value. Note: the country of origin reflects the country claimed on the product packaging or by a company representative. It reflects the site of encapsulation or packaging; the vast majority of oils were sourced from South American deep sea fish. International guidelines recommend values for PV, AV, and Totox of <5 meq/l, <20, and <26, respectively.

    RRP BBD Oil mass per capsule EPA + DHA per capsule PV     Adj PV    
Code Country of origin (US$) (days) Actual (g) % label Label (mg) Actual (mg) (meq/l) AV Totox (meq/l) Adj AV Adj Totox
1 Australia 0.14 318 1.064 106.4 300 181 5.43 12.43 23.29 5.43 12.43 23.29
2 Australia/NZL 0.11 321 1.000 100.0 300 173 6.52 3.14 16.17 6.52 3.14 16.17
3 NZL 0.14 553 1.009 100.9 300 181 8.11 37.22 53.43 8.11 37.22 53.43
4 NZL 0.10 561 1.000 100.0 300 174 7.30 4.37 18.97 7.30 4.37 18.97
5 NZL 0.15 349 1.096 109.6 300 170 1.71 19.53 22.95 1.71 19.53 22.95
6 Australia 0.13 438 1.094 109.4 300 185 9.08 13.72 31.88 9.08 13.72 31.88
7 NZL 0.06 765 0.985 98.5 300 174 5.82 5.64 17.29 5.82 5.64 17.29
8 Australia 0.40 495 1.167 97.3 694 495 6.85 30.17 43.87 2.96 13.04 18.96
9 Australia 0.11 587 1.094 109.4 300 182 1.09 24.54 26.72 1.09 24.54 26.72
10 Australia 0.12 800 1.002 100.2 300 175 8.00 6.11 22.12 8.00 6.11 22.12
11 NZL 0.07 969 1.001 100.1 300 146 5.78 6.79 18.34 5.78 6.79 18.34
12 Norway 0.50 739 1.048 104.8 550 176 11.65 21.23 44.53 6.35 11.58 24.29
13 Australia 0.10 404 1.003 100.3 300 176 9.56 5.81 24.93 9.56 5.81 24.93
14 Australia 0.11 587 1.500 100.0 450 274 7.88 3.25 19.00 5.25 2.16 12.67
15 Canada 0.50 249 1.022 102.2 500 458 14.06 5.17 33.28 8.43 3.10 19.97
16 NZL 0.10 341 1.142 114.2 450 247 6.07 31.72 43.85 4.04 21.15 29.24
17 Australia 0.44 310 1.032 103.2 600 423 12.66 28.10 53.42 6.33 14.05 26.71
18 NZL 0.05 796 0.995 99.5 300 170 6.98 4.76 18.73 6.98 4.76 18.73
19 NZL 0.07 614 1.508 100.6 450 294 8.70 40.34 57.75 5.80 26.89 38.50
20 Australia 0.10 766 1.513 100.9 450 243 9.54 4.26 23.34 6.36 2.84 15.56
21 Australia 0.11 857 0.992 99.2 300 169 5.67 6.04 17.38 5.67 6.04 17.38
22 NZL 0.11 521 1.007 100.7 300 167 11.05 8.92 31.03 11.05 8.92 31.03
23 India 0.74 460 0.486 97.2 275 170 18.33 9.28 45.93 19.99 10.12 50.11
24 Australia 0.51 368 1.136 113.6 520 566 4.32 14.91 23.54 2.49 8.60 13.58
25 Australia 0.34 156 1.037 100.1 521 447 15.59 4.91 36.09 8.98 2.83 20.78
26 Australia 0.35 187 1.347 112.2 600 228 19.82 32.36 72.01 9.91 16.18 36.00
27 Norway, bottled in NZL 0.07 826 1.000 100.0 300 156 5.02 8.87 18.90 5.02 8.87 18.90
28 NZL 0.23 732 0.996 99.6 300 431 4.97 8.69 18.64 4.97 8.69 18.64
29 USA 0.51 793 1.190 99.2 600 523 7.47 8.94 23.89 3.74 4.47 11.94
30 NZL 0.22 900 1.514 100.9 900 806 4.97 72.63 82.58 1.66 24.21 27.53
31 USA 0.42 641 1.214 101.2 191 230 7.50 4.51 19.52 11.78 7.09 30.66
32 NZL 0.54 887 0.956 95.6 425 348 33.34 2.98 69.67 23.54 2.10 49.18
33 Australia/NZL 0.28 768 1.022 98.8 600 ? 11.61 17.34 40.55 5.80 8.67 20.28
34 Australia/NZL 0.24 367 1.543 99.4 900 ? 8.72 13.01 30.46 2.91 4.34 10.15
35 Norway 0.77 611 1.048 104.8 550 ? 12.75 17.15 42.65 6.96 9.35 23.26
36 NZL 0.10 273 1.142 114.2 300 ? 3.33 18.65 25.32 3.33 18.65 25.32