The same high-concentration fish oil as the softgels, but poured rather than swallowed. One teaspoon (5 ml) gives 1560 mg of total omega-3, of which 745 mg is EPA and 500 mg is DHA, from wild-caught anchovy and sardine, in triglyceride form and flavoured with natural lemon.
Allergen — please read
This product contains FISH, a declarable allergen under EU Regulation 1169/2011. Do not take it if you are allergic to fish. The label may also list mackerel and herring alongside the anchovy and sardine, depending on the batch.
Please read this before you buy the large bottle
This is the point that no one selling liquid fish oil puts on the page, so we will. Once opened, this must be refrigerated and used within about three months. Not because of a bureaucratic technicality — because a liquid oil in a bottle you open every day is exposed to air, and omega-3 oxidises.
Now do the arithmetic. At one teaspoon a day, a 473 ml bottle lasts roughly three months and a week. You will be finishing it right at the edge of its open life. This size makes sense if more than one person in the house is taking it, or if you have been advised to take a larger daily dose. If you are one person taking one teaspoon a day, the smaller bottle is the better buy, even though it costs more per millilitre. We would rather sell you the right bottle than the bigger one.
Liquid or softgels?
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Liquid is cheaper per gram of omega-3 and much easier if you struggle to swallow capsules — you would need several softgels to match one teaspoon.
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Liquid makes the dose adjustable, which is why it is the usual choice for children (dose on professional advice, not guesswork) and for anyone titrating up.
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Softgels keep better. Each one is a sealed dose that has never met the air. A bottle of liquid begins ageing the day you open it.
So: liquid for households, for higher doses and for people who cannot swallow capsules; softgels for one person taking a standard dose and for travelling.
The claim we are allowed to make
Under EU Regulation 432/2012 the authorised wording is "EPA and DHA contribute to the normal function of the heart", obtained with a daily intake of 250 mg of EPA and DHA; and for DHA specifically, "contributes to the maintenance of normal brain function" and "to the maintenance of normal vision", each with 250 mg of DHA a day. Claims you may have read about mood, joints or immunity are not authorised, and we are not going to make them. One teaspoon here contains 1245 mg of EPA and DHA combined — roughly five times the amount the heart claim is based on.
Why the form and the freshness matter
The oil is in triglyceride form, the way omega-3 occurs in a fish. Concentrating fish oil usually converts it to ethyl esters, and cheaper products stay that way; this one is converted back, which studies associate with somewhat better absorption. It is stabilised with natural vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) and rosemary extract, both there to slow oxidation.
That is also why a liquid needs looking after. Rancid fish oil tastes and smells strongly of fish. If the bottle you are halfway through starts tasting sharply fishy or bitter, that is a signal to stop using it, not to persevere. Anchovy and sardine are small, short-lived fish that carry far less mercury than large predators, and each batch is third-party tested for heavy metals, dioxins, PCBs and oxidation — which is the substantive reason this costs more than supermarket fish oil.
Before you start
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Blood thinners. High-dose omega-3 lengthens bleeding time. Check with your doctor if you take warfarin, a DOAC, aspirin or clopidogrel, and tell your surgeon or dentist before any procedure.
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Upper limit. EFSA considers supplemental EPA and DHA combined of up to 5 g a day not to raise safety concerns in adults. A teaspoon of this is 1.25 g, so leave room if you take anything else containing omega-3.
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Children. Do not improvise a dose. Ask a paediatrician or pharmacist.
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Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Often recommended, but let your midwife or doctor set the dose.
A food supplement is not a substitute for a varied and balanced diet or a healthy lifestyle. Two portions of oily fish a week will meet the general recommendation on their own.
Nordic Naturals
Nordic Naturals
Nordic Naturals
Nordic Naturals
