One in every five adults aged more than 60 years takes fish oil supplements, despite many warnings that they have no benefit for heart health. A new study sheds light on what the product labels say that may continue to make the supplements such a popular choice.
Researchers looked at 2,819 fish oil supplements. Of them, 73.9% had at least one claim on the label — usually about heart, brain, eye or joint health. The study was published Wednesday in JAMA Cardiology.
US Food and Drug Administration language guidelines weren’t frequently used. In fact, 19.2% of the labels used an FDA-approved health claim. The others made structure or function claims, such as “promotes heart health.”
Heart health claims were most common and were on 62% of the supplements.
Plus, the amount of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) plus docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) — two popular omega-3 fatty acids — varied widely depending on the supplement. Of products from 16 large manufacturers, only 24 of the 255 supplements had a daily dose of 2 grams of more of EPA and DHA. Doses of the separate omega-3s varied widely.
The researchers said that the products may need more regulation to prevent misinformation about them.
“Statements on the supplement labels may influence consumer beliefs about health benefits,” the authors wrote.
“The majority of fish oil supplement labels make health claims, usually in the form of structure/function claims, that imply a health benefit across a variety of organ systems despite a lack of trial data showing efficacy,” they continued.
Significant heterogeneity exists in the daily dose of EPA+DHA in available supplements, leading to potential variability in safety and efficacy between supplements. Increasing regulation of dietary supplement labeling may be needed to prevent consumer misinformation, the authors said.
The claims are pervasive, they said, calling for more research right away to understand why people continue to purchase fish oil.
