Fish Oil 1200 mg vs 3000 mg: what five fish oil labels print about EPA and DHA

Four of the five fish oil fronts on this page print a weight for the oil: 1200 mg, 1,500 mg, 2720 MG and 3,000 mg. On each Supplement Facts panel the matching line is the fish oil weight, not the omega-3; on two labels the panel figure is twice the front number, as the next section shows. The omega-3 sits lower, as EPA and DHA, printed per serving, and a serving is one, two or three softgels. We read five fish oil labels from products we sell, set each front number against its panel, divide every line to one softgel, and add EPA and DHA on equal terms. We stop at what the label prints and what the arithmetic gives; what fish oil does is not a label question.

The front number, and what the panel says it is

Thorne is the one label whose photographed front and panel print no oil weight; the other four print it under the serving size.

Two of the four front numbers are one softgel’s share of the panel. Nature Made prints “1200 mg (360 mg Omega-3)”; its panel lists Fish Oil 2400 mg for 2 Softgels, and 2,400 mg ÷ 2 = 1,200 mg. Swisse prints “1,500 mg WILD FISH OIL” and “450 mg OMEGA-3”; its panel lists 3000 mg of oil for a serving printed as “2 Softgel”, in the singular, and 3,000 mg ÷ 2 = 1,500 mg. A separate Swisse marketing panel, not the Supplement Facts box, prints “1500mg per softgel.” The other two fronts carry whole-serving figures: Bronson’s “1250 MG EPA • 488 MG DHA • 2720 MG FISH OIL” repeats the panel’s 2 Softgels line, and Deal Supplement’s says so in words, “3,000 mg per serving”, with the serving set at 3 Softgels.

Divided to one softgel the order changes: Bronson’s 2,720 mg ÷ 2 = 1,360 mg, Deal Supplement’s 3,000 mg ÷ 3 = 1,000 mg. The largest front number carries the least oil per softgel of the four, and the 1,500 mg Swisse softgel the most.

Omega-3, EPA and DHA in mg: the lines to compare

Each panel breaks the omega-3 out in its own way, per serving.

• Nature Made (2 Softgels): Total Omega-3 Fatty Acids 720 mg, then Omega-3 EPA 360 mg, Omega-3 DHA 240 mg and Omega-3 Other 120 mg. 360 + 240 + 120 = 720; EPA plus DHA alone is 600 mg.
• Bronson (2 Softgels): Fish Oil 2720 mg, a heading line “Providing:”, then EPA 1250 mg and DHA 488 mg, each with a ‡ mark tied to the footnote “‡ As Ethyl Ester”. No total omega-3 line is printed. 1,250 + 488 = 1,738 mg.
• Thorne (One Gelcap): Total Omega-3 Fatty Acids (from Fish Oil) 813 mg, then EPA 425 mg and DHA 270 mg. 425 + 270 = 695 mg, and 813 − 695 = 118 mg the panel does not name. The front prints the same pair, “425 mg EPA and 270 mg DHA”.
• Deal Supplement (3 Softgels): Omega-3 Fish Oil 3,000 mg, a line printed as “Total Omega 3 Fatty Acid” 2,280 mg, then EPA 1,200 mg, DHA 900 mg and Other Omega-3 Fatty Acids 180 mg. 1,200 + 900 + 180 = 2,280. The front’s “1,200 mg EPA + 900 mg DHA” matches the panel; that sum is 2,100 mg.
• Swisse (2 Softgel): Concentrated Wild Fish Oil 3000 mg, then three bracketed sub-lines, “(equiv. Omega-3 marine triglycerides 900 mg)”, EPA 540 mg and DHA 360 mg, each printed as “equiv.” 540 + 360 = 900, the omega-3 figure to the milligram; no “other” line. The front’s “450 mg OMEGA-3” is 900 mg ÷ 2.

The omega-3 share of the oil varies: Nature Made 720 mg of 2,400 mg, 30 percent; Swisse 900 mg of 3,000 mg, also 30 percent; Deal Supplement 2,280 mg of 3,000 mg, 76 percent. Bronson prints no omega-3 total; its EPA plus DHA is 1,738 mg of 2,720 mg, about 64 percent. Thorne prints no oil weight, and no share can be worked out.

Fish oil per softgel: EPA and DHA on equal terms

Dividing each per-serving line by its serving count gives one softgel’s share; Thorne needs no division.

The order changes with the unit. Per serving, Deal Supplement’s 2,100 mg leads, then Bronson 1,738 mg, Swisse 900 mg, Thorne 695 mg and Nature Made 600 mg. Per softgel, Bronson’s 869 mg leads, Deal Supplement drops to second at 700 mg, Thorne’s single gelcap at 695 mg sits 5 mg behind it, then Swisse 450 mg and Nature Made 300 mg. A 3-softgel serving and a 2-softgel serving cannot be compared line for line; a softgel and a softgel can. For scale, the one multivitamin panel that prints a fish-oil block in our multivitamin gummies vs capsules vs tablets read, the Nature Made For Him gummies, comes to 30 mg of EPA plus DHA per gummy, a tenth of the 300 mg in the lowest softgel here.

Triple strength fish oil, wild, lemon, burpless: the words as printed

• “TRIPLE STRENGTH” (Bronson): the label prints no figure that the strength is triple of. The panel adds the ‡ footnote “As Ethyl Ester” after both EPA and DHA. The other ingredients are gelatin, glycerin and purified water, and the allergen line reads “Contains: Fish (Anchovy)”.
• “WILD”, “ODORLESS” and “HIGH STRENGTH” (Swisse): the panel’s ingredient line is “Concentrated Wild Fish Oil”. The other ingredients are gelatin, glycerin, water and vanillin; the allergen line reads “Contains fish (sardine, anchovy, and mackerel) and soy.”
• “lemon flavor” and “burpless” (Deal Supplement): the other-ingredients line starts with “Natural lemon oil, natural carob”, then the softgel (gelatin, glycerin, purified water). The panel adds “THIS PRODUCT DOES NOT CONTAIN: Gluten, dairy, eggs, peanuts, soy, wheat, yeast.” and “ALLERGY ALERT: May contain fish products (anchovies, sardines).”
• “BURP-LESS” (Nature Made): printed on the front and on a side callout panel; the Supplement Facts box prints nothing further about it.
• “Super EPA” (Thorne): the other ingredients are “Gelatin (bovine), Purified Water and Glycerin (vegetable source) gelcap, Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols)”, and the source line reads “Contains ingredients derived from fish (fish oil = anchovy, sardine, mackerel).”

Four of the five labels name the fish; anchovy appears on all four, sardine on three and mackerel on two. Nature Made’s other-ingredients line, where a fish source would appear, was not photographed.

Calories and fat: the lines fish oil panels print

• Calories: Nature Made 35 (2 softgels), Bronson 27 (2 softgels, with a sub-line “Calories from Fat” 25), Thorne 10 (one gelcap), Deal Supplement 30 (3 softgels), Swisse 30 (2 softgels).
• Total Fat: Nature Made 3 g, Bronson 2.7 g, Deal Supplement 3 g and Swisse 3 g, each printed as 4% of the Daily Value; Thorne 1 g, printed as 1%.
• Other lines: Nature Made alone splits the fat: Saturated Fat 1 g (5%), “Polyunsaturated” 1 g and Monounsaturated Fat 0.5 g. It also prints Total Carbohydrate 1 g (<1%) and Protein “less than 1” g. A Cholesterol line appears on two panels, Nature Made 25 mg (8%) and Swisse 20 mg (7%).

All five panels carry a 2,000 calorie footnote for the percentages, worded a little differently, and each marks its oil or omega-3 lines with a symbol tied to a footnote that the Daily Value is not established: “*” on Nature Made, “**” on Thorne and “†” on the other three. Swisse’s three bracketed sub-lines print no symbol.

Servings per container, 30 to 200, and the printed directions

Front count divided by serving size gives the servings per container; four of the five panels print that figure.

• Nature Made: “60 SOFTGELS”, 2 per serving, 30 servings (60 ÷ 2 = 30).
• Bronson: “90 Softgels”, 2 per serving, 45 servings (90 ÷ 2 = 45).
• Thorne: “90 GELCAPS”, one per serving; the photographed panel prints no servings-per-container line, and 90 ÷ 1 = 90 is read off the front.
• Deal Supplement: “240 softgels”, 3 per serving, 80 servings (240 ÷ 3 = 80).
• Swisse: “400 SOFTGELS”, 2 per serving, 200 servings (400 ÷ 2 = 200).

Two labels print directions in the photographs. Bronson’s begins “As a dietary supplement for adults, take 2 softgels daily at mealtime”; Deal Supplement’s suggested-use line begins “As a dietary supplement, adults take three (3) softgels daily”; both continue with an “or as directed by” clause. Bronson also prints a WARNING block naming pregnancy, nursing, medical conditions, medications, adverse reactions and a broken seal; the photographed Deal Supplement panel prints no general warning block, only the allergy alert above and “STORAGE: Store in a cool, dark, dry place.” Directions and warnings for the other three were not photographed.

Quick answers

Is fish oil 1200 mg the same as 1,200 mg of omega-3? Not on the Nature Made label. The front prints “1200 mg (360 mg Omega-3)”, and the panel gives the split for 2 Softgels: Fish Oil 2400 mg, Total Omega-3 Fatty Acids 720 mg. One softgel is 2,400 mg ÷ 2 = 1,200 mg of oil and 720 mg ÷ 2 = 360 mg of omega-3, the pair the front prints.

How much EPA and DHA is in one Bronson Triple Strength softgel? The panel prints EPA 1250 mg and DHA 488 mg for 2 Softgels, so one softgel is 625 mg EPA and 244 mg DHA, 869 mg together, both marked “‡ As Ethyl Ester”. The words “TRIPLE STRENGTH” come with no comparison figure.

Does fish oil 3000 mg mean 3,000 mg per softgel? On Deal Supplement, no: the front says “3,000 mg per serving” and a serving is 3 Softgels, so 1,000 mg per softgel. Swisse’s panel prints 3000 mg for 2 Softgel, 1,500 mg per softgel, the figure its front prints.

What does “total omega-3” include beyond EPA and DHA? Whatever the panel itemises or leaves unnamed. Nature Made prints “Omega-3 Other” 120 mg, Deal Supplement prints “Other Omega-3 Fatty Acids” 180 mg, Thorne’s 813 mg total leaves 118 mg unnamed, Swisse’s 900 mg is EPA plus DHA to the milligram, and Bronson prints no total line.

Which label prints the most EPA and DHA per softgel? Bronson at 869 mg, then Deal Supplement 700 mg, Thorne 695 mg, Swisse 450 mg and Nature Made 300 mg. Per serving the order starts with Deal Supplement’s 3-softgel 2,100 mg instead.

That is as far as five panels take the numbers. See the Omega-3 & Fish Oil collection, go back to our earlier fish oil labels guide for the EPA and DHA basics, or start with how to read a Supplement Facts label.