EPA and DHA contents of encapsulated fish oil products

Abstract

Seventeen brands of encapsulated fish oil or fish oil concentrate products, purchased during the period 1984–88 over the counter in the United States United Kingdom or Canada, were analyzed for their mg contents of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids per g of capsule contents. The mg contents were determined with respect to methyl tricosanoate internal standard by gas liquid chromatography (GLC) on a SUPELCOWAX‐10 flexible fused silica capillary column. The alkyl ester and free fatty acid products showed very high levels of EPA (259–300 mg) and DHA (172–254 mg) whereas in the triglyceride oils EPA ranged from a low of 80 to a high of 250 mg, and DHA ranged from 78 to 156 mg, per g of capsule contents. The mg/g results indicate that the label claims for EPA and DHA for the majority of the products sampled are presented with reasonable accuracy.

A comparison of actual versus stated label amounts of EPA and DHA in commercial omega-3 dietary supplements in the United States

“…Overall, these results are similar to previously published studies . A summary and comparison of the results in these studies is shown in Table .…”

SELECTIVE DEPOSITION OF α‐TOCOPHEROL IN LIPIDS OF FARMED BLUE MUSSELS (MYTILUS EDULIS)

“…a serving of mussels (100 g meat) will typically contain about 1 mg (1 IU) of a-tocopherol in combination with about 200 mg of combined eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids (Ackman, unpublished observations). This is a very favorable ratio for fishery products (Kovacs et al 1978) and is comparable to that found in good quality fish oil capsule products (Ackman et al 1989). The latter often contain an added mixture of tocopherols of vegetable oil origin (Shukla and Perkins 1991).…”

An un-commissioned randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind study to test the effect of deep sea fish oil as a pain reliever for dogs suffering from canine OA

“…As EPA will change into DHA in the EPA cascade, it is however unclear how much of EPA and DHA combined is needed to achieve maximum plasma levels. In fish oil the EPA concentration is usually about 60% and the DHA 40% [41]. In the product we used the DHA was about 22% of the EPA amount.…”