Concentrated Fish Oil
Concentrated fish oil is a refined marine oil in which the eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid content has been raised well above the level found in the natural oil, by removing the saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids that make up most of a crude fish oil. Where a crude oil from anchovy or sardine carries around 30 percent total omega-3, a concentrate typically runs from 50 to 85 percent.
Concentration necessarily changes the chemical form of the oil. The triglycerides are first broken apart, the fatty acids are separated as ethyl esters, and the enriched fraction is then either sold as an ethyl ester or re-esterified back onto glycerol to give a re-esterified triglyceride. Both forms are traded, and the distinction is stated on the specification because it affects softgel compatibility, oxidative behaviour and how the product may be labelled.
The finished oil is a pale yellow, clear, low viscosity liquid, insoluble in water and miscible with other oils. Removing the saturated fraction lowers the cloud point, so a concentrate stays clear at refrigeration temperature where a natural oil would cloud. The trade off is stability: a higher proportion of highly unsaturated fatty acids makes the oil more prone to oxidation, so it is stabilised with tocopherols, held under nitrogen, and tested against peroxide, anisidine and total oxidation values on release and on retest.
We source bulk Concentrated Fish Oil from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Sichuan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Specialty oil
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Clear pale yellow oily liquid |
| Odour and Taste | Slight marine note, free from rancid character |
| EPA (of total fatty acids) | ≥ 33.0% |
| DHA (of total fatty acids) | ≥ 22.0% |
| Total Omega-3 Fatty Acids | ≥ 60.0% |
| Chemical Form | Ethyl ester or re-esterified triglyceride as declared |
| Identification | Conforms by gas chromatography fatty acid profile |
| Acid Value | ≤ 0.5 mg KOH/g |
| Peroxide Value | ≤ 5.0 meq/kg |
| Anisidine Value | ≤ 20 |
| Totox Value | ≤ 26 |
| Moisture and Volatiles | ≤ 0.05% |
| Unsaponifiable Matter | ≤ 1.5% |
| Dioxins and Furans | ≤ 1.75 pg WHO-TEQ/g |
| Lead | ≤ 0.1 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 0.1 mg/kg |
| Mercury | ≤ 0.1 mg/kg |
Common Markets Grades
Grades are described by total EPA plus DHA and by the ratio between them, written in the trade shorthand of the two figures, so a 18/12 oil carries 18 percent EPA and 12 percent DHA while a 33/22 concentrate carries 33 and 22 percent. Common concentrate levels are 50, 60, 70 and 80 percent total omega-3, with EPA rich, DHA rich and balanced profiles available at each level.
Chemical form is the second distinction: ethyl ester concentrates are cheaper to make and reach the highest assays, while re-esterified triglyceride concentrates are sold at a premium and are preferred where a triglyceride form is specified. Beyond that, buyers distinguish a standard supplement grade from a pharmaceutical grade meeting a pharmacopoeial monograph, and specify contaminant limits for dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls and heavy metals, which is where much of the refining cost sits. Flavoured and emulsified versions, and microencapsulated powders spray dried from the oil, are separate finished formats.
Applications
- Softgel capsules in the omega-3 supplement market, the largest single application
- Liquid omega-3 supplements, usually flavoured and emulsified to mask the marine note
- Prescription and medical nutrition products based on high assay concentrates
- Infant and clinical nutrition formulations, where a defined EPA and DHA ratio is required
- Fortified foods and beverages, added as a microencapsulated powder or emulsion
- Nutrition bars and chews, using the encapsulated form for shelf stability
- Sports and cardiovascular supplement ranges dosed on total omega-3
- Pet supplements and veterinary formulations aimed at joint and coat condition
- Aquaculture broodstock and larval feed, where a raised omega-3 level is specified
Brands Using Concentrated Fish Oil
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Concentrated Fish Oil on the ingredient label.
- CarlsonElite Omega-3 Gems ↗Softgel described on the page as a fish oil concentrate supplying 1,600 mg of omega 3s including EPA and DHA per serving.Label verified 2026-08-31
- CarlsonOmega-3s with SPMs ↗Softgel blending arctic herring caviar extract with fish oil concentrate as the source of its EPA and DHA.Label verified 2026-08-31
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Concentrated Fish Oil
Top Concentrated Fish Oil manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States, marine oils rich in EPA and DHA are the subject of GRAS notifications to which the FDA responded without objection for defined food uses, and they are widely sold as dietary ingredients under the dietary supplement framework. Fish is a major food allergen requiring declaration. The FDA has issued qualified health claims relating EPA and DHA intake to coronary heart disease and to blood pressure, and the wording of any such claim must follow the terms of the enforcement discretion letter.
In the European Union, fish oils and their concentrates are foods rather than additives and carry no E number, although concentrates produced by routes without a history of consumption before May 1997 may require authorisation under the novel food regulation, and several such oils appear in the Union list of authorised novel foods. Fish is an allergen that must be emphasised in the ingredient list. Maximum levels for dioxins, dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls and heavy metals in fish oil for human consumption are set in the contaminants regulation. Authorised health claims for EPA and DHA at specified intakes are listed in the claims register. Codex has adopted a standard for fish oils, which names the oils covered, sets fatty acid composition ranges and quality criteria including acid value, peroxide value and anisidine value, and addresses concentrated oils explicitly.
Manufacturing Process
Crude fish oil, usually from anchovy, sardine or menhaden, is first refined: degummed and acid treated to remove phospholipids and metals, alkali neutralised to strip free fatty acids, bleached on activated earth, and deodorised by steam stripping under deep vacuum. Persistent organic contaminants are removed at this stage or in a dedicated step, either by short path distillation or by passing the oil over activated carbon, since dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls concentrate along with the fatty acids if they are not taken out first.
The refined oil is then transesterified with ethanol under alkaline catalysis, which cleaves the triglycerides and produces a mixture of fatty acid ethyl esters plus glycerol, and the glycerol is separated off. The ester mixture is fractionated, most commonly by short path or falling film molecular distillation under high vacuum at low temperature, which separates the shorter and more saturated esters from the long chain omega-3 esters; urea complexation is used as an alternative or supplementary step, since saturated esters form crystalline complexes with urea while the polyunsaturates do not. Chromatographic separation is used where the highest assays are required. The enriched ester fraction is either finished as an ethyl ester product or re-esterified onto glycerol, usually with a lipase under mild conditions, and the excess free fatty acid is stripped by distillation. The finished concentrate is polish filtered, deodorised again if needed, dosed with tocopherols and filled under nitrogen.
