ANYONE who subscribes to a healthy lifestyle would have heard about the many benefits of fish oil. Besides preventing heart diseases, DHA inherent within fish oil is said to improve brain function and promote skin health besides its many other benefits.
So it would come as a surprise for everyone to hear that there is a dark story behind fish oil. Apparently, the cute, yellowish oval capsules that contain the oil go through a long list of unhygienic, and downright revolting processes before they end up on a pharmacy shelf.
Not convinced? Then check out this viral video post on X by netizen @CaryKelly11.
If you take fish oil supplements, you should probably learn how they make them. This is an absolute deal breaker for me.
Source: worldtradeprodotcom (IG) pic.twitter.com/Kb4ZuuYDGt
— 💯 Cary Kelly 💯 (@CaryKelly11) November 25, 2025
The video can also be found at: https://x.com/CaryKelly11/status/1993293472829522378?s=20
According to the video, fish oil doesn’t usually come from deep sea fishes, but from left overs such as the head, scales and skin. Apparently the waste is ground into pulp, which emits a foul stench. Artificial flavouring and fragrances is then added into the mixture to give it a more appealing taste.
Looking at the end product, consumers are easily fooled into believing they are purchasing high quality supplements. But in truth, they are merely consuming processed waste material.
Netizens who watched the video, however, were divided on their opinion. “You expected the process of harvesting the oils from dead fish fat to be pretty?” said @ChuckH14491265 while @AnthonyGtakes suggested people to just keep eating sushi.
“I stopped taking fish oil years ago after learning of oxidation,” added @MarkCasazzaIV.
The best comment probably came from @4AlignedAI:
Then there was @WolfmanKnows suggesting an alternative in the form of hemp seed oil.
According to him, it was superior in every way and even asked netizens to message him to receive some truths about the product.
Returning to the topic at hand, we can only shake our heads and wonder if any food based products can be trusted anymore unless it is made by our very own hands.
Perhaps the only viable, and trusted way of deriving fish oil is by grabbing a fishing rod and heading for the next unpolluted river, if there are any unpolluted river remaining in the future, of course. —Nov 26, 2025
Main image: @CaryKelly11 (X)