How much does fish oil quality matter? page

[MonkeyGuy]

I was buying Spectrum fish oil capsules from Whole Foods, but found the same sized bottle at Target for around 1/3rd of the price. They both say they are mercury-free and are filtered for pcb's and other toxins. The EPA/DHA ratio is the same on both. Am I getting a good deal on the Target fish oils, or should I be looking for something specific that name brand oils may have that cheaper ones don't? Anything else I should be looking for?

[Tommy7]

Personally I don't believe the hype. I think it's all the same with the exception of the obvious cheapos. By that I mean fish oil that is not marked filtered and mercury free or are from big fish etc. But the top (supposedly) brands such as Nordic or any of the higher priced products, IMO are just paying for the name. Some of these are $50 for 60 capsules!!! I go to Walmart and buy "Spring Valley" Triple strength. That's 900 mg DHA/EPA per capsule and I get 2 bottles of 100 each for about $14. It has all the safety markers you mention and it is from anchovy, mackerel and sardines and without any funky ingredients. In my research I haven't found anything bad about this brand and again, like I said; as far as the expensive brands....I don't believe the hype. More recently I purchased Sams club brand (same strength) 150 capsules for $18. This brand is recommended by Dr. Davis on his Heart scan blog.

[cillakat]

I was buying Spectrum fish oil capsules from Whole Foods, but found the same sized bottle at Target for around 1/3rd of the price. They both say they are mercury-free and are filtered for pcb's and other toxins. The EPA/DHA ratio is the same on both. Am I getting a good deal on the Target fish oils, or should I be looking for something specific that name brand oils may have that cheaper ones don't? Anything else I should be looking for?

Because DHA occurs in greater amounts in wild seafood, I prefer to use DHA heavy fish oils. Currently I'm using Now DHA 500. I get it at iherb.com

Having said that, any fish oil that says "molecularly distilled" is fine from a purity/safety standpoint.