WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.While Consumerlab.com quality and labeling tests showed most fish oil and omega-3 supplements passed, 11 of the 68 products they reviewed had contamination, label or other issues that caused them to fail.

"Every reputable company should be testing each batch of product to make sure it meets the spec, which is a requirement under GMPs, and they should use labs that participate in lab proficiency programs to make sure they measure EPAs and DHAs efficiently," recommended Adam Ismail, executive director,  GOED (Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s). An example of such a program would be the AOCS/GOED Lab Proficiency Program, Ismail said.

Consumerlab.com said it uncovered the following problems:

Consumerlab.com also cautioned buyers that some krill oil" supplements are actually blends of fish and krill oils making their labeling misleading, and some products also claim to provide a certain percentage of the Daily Value (DV) for EPA and DHA, but no DV has actually been established for omega-3 fatty acids. However, these issues did not cause products to fail testing.

In past Consumerlab.com tests, most of the omega-3 products that failed did so because of contaminant or spoilage issues."It's a positive sign that such a small number failed for these reasons this time, although, of course we need to continue to be vigilant about labeling and GMP issues," Ismail said.

In the current review, Consumerlab.com found good quality fish oil could be purchased for as little as 1 cent per 100 mg of EPA and DHA (a typical daily dose is 300 mg to 500 mg). Krill oil was much more expensive the lowest cost being 19 cents per 100 mg of EPA and DHA.  Calamari oil and algal oil tended to be priced between the two other oils.

The tested supplements include those with fish oil, krill oil, algal oil (from algae) and/or calamari (squid) oil. Results are published in a new report on ConsumerLab.com, which provides results for the 35 selected products as well as 28 products which passed the same testing through Consumerlab.coms voluntary certification program. The review covers products for general use and those marketed specifically for pregnant women and children. It also includes pet supplements for use by dogs and cats.

The following is a list of products covered in the report: