How Products Were Selected:
Products were selected to represent those popular among readers of ConsumerLab.com and commonly sold and/or available in the U.S. ConsumerLab.com purchased products on the open market, through retail stores, on-line retailers, or direct sale companies. Products were not accepted directly from manufacturers.Testing Methods:
Canned and packaged fish products were tested in one or more independent laboratories for the following:- The identity and quantity of total fatty acids including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) by gas chromatography utilizing the AOAC (Association Official Analytical Chemists) Official Method 991.39 or other methodology deemed appropriate by CL.
- Mercury, total arsenic (and inorganic arsenic if total arsenic concentration exceeded 3.5 ppm), lead and cadmium by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) or other methods deemed appropriate by CL.
- Freshness: Combined peroxide (PV) and anisidine (AN) values for calculation of TOTOX value as 2X peroxide value (PV) + p-anisidine value (AV) in products containing at least 5 g of fat per serving and no interfering properties such as color by AOCS method (CD 8-53 & 18-90 respectively) or equivalent methods.
ConsumerLab.com may modify or use other appropriate test methods if necessary to test special product formulations.
Identities of products were not disclosed to laboratories performing the testing.
Passing Score:*
To be "Approved" by ConsumerLab.com, a product must meet the following requirements:- Contain 100% of the claimed amounts of EPA, DHA, other fatty acids and claimed totals.
- Heavy metals. Product must not exceed the following limits:
Mercury: 0.46 ppm (based on EPA-FDA fish advice avoidance limit and Canadian limit in fish protein of 0.5 ppm). (Notations of weekly intake limits will be made for products exceeding FDA/EPA suggested limits for pregnant and breastfeeding women and children ages 1-11.)
Arsenic: 3.5 ppm (Canadian limit). (A cautionary notation will be made for products exceeding 100 mcg of arsenic per 85 gram serving. Such products may exceed the California Prop 65 limit of 10 mcg/day of inorganic arsenic, assuming that 10% of total arsenic is inorganic.)
Lead: 0.5 ppm (Canadian limit)
Cadmium: 0.05 ppm (European limit based on salmon) - Freshness: Have a combined peroxide value (PV) of no more than 5 meq/kg, and anisidine value (AV) of no more than 20, and a TOTOX value of no more than 26 (calculated as (2 x PV) + AV) (GOED 2012).
* Passing scores allow for specific margins of technical error associated with each analysis. ConsumerLab.com reserves the right to disqualify a product at any time from passing its testing if it considers such product to display unacceptable variation in quality, present a safety risk or provide misleading or inaccurate information in its labeling.
