Exposé: Some fish oil ‘short on quality’

In October, Consumer Reports published a seafood-mislabeling exposé in which more than one-fifth of the 190 seafood samples it purchased were found to be misidentified.

Not it’s out with investigation on fish oil.

On Tuesday, Consumer Reports released the results of a report that found five of the 15 fish oil brands it investigated “fall a bit short on quality.” The report is due to run the magazine’s January issue.

Consumer Reports purchased fish oil online or in New York-area stores and sent them to an independent lab to evaluate whether the products contained the listed amount of omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, whether they properly disintegrated, whether they showed signs of spoilage, and whether they contained any contaminants such as lead, mercury, dioxins, or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The results: one or more samples from five brands didn’t meet all of these quality standards.

“Fish oil is not a cure-all. If you’re considering a fish oil supplement, we recommend that you talk to your doctor first to find out if it’s the right treatment for you,” said Ronni Sandroff, an editorial director with Consumer Reports. “In our recent tests, we found that some were not as pure as one might think.”

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