Which?<\/a> nutrition experts scrutinised 24 omega-3 supplements<\/a>, comparing them against guidance from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), which advises a daily intake of 450mg of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. <\/p>\n For products claiming “high strength,” Which? set a benchmark of 1,000mg of combined EPA and DHA. Their analysis revealed that several of these premium-priced supplements contained less EPA and DHA than the recommended daily intake.<\/p>\n The watchdog highlighted that in some instances, consumers could be paying twice as much for products offering no more active omega-3 than significantly cheaper alternatives on the market.<\/p>\n All of the retailers involved said their product labelling complied with the Nutrition and Health Claims Register.<\/p>\n So, what exactly are EPA and DHA, and why are they important? We spoke to Dr Sarah Schenker, registered nutritionist and dietitian, who explained what omega-3 fatty acids are, the role they play in maintaining health, and the best food sources for increasing your intake naturally.<\/p>\n What are the different types of omega-3 fatty acids, and why are they important?<\/p>\n \u201cOmega-3 is a type of fatty acid that helps support your heart health, maintain normal brain function and eye health, and reduce inflammation,\u201d says Schenker.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are lots of different types of fatty acids, and according to their structure, they can be omega-3, omega-6, omega-9, and the number relates to the position of what we call double bonds.\u201d<\/p>\n There are three main types of omega-3 fatty acids: ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).<\/p>\n \u201cOur body cannot make ALA, an essential omega-3 fatty acid, on its own, so we get it from plant sources such as chia seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds, flax seeds, soybeans and rape seed oil,\u201d says the dietitian.<\/p>\n \u201cWhereas, oily fish is the main food source of EPA and DHA, which are important long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are some of the best food sources of omega-3 fatty acids to add to your next shopping list\u2026<\/p>\n Salmon<\/p>\n \u201cKeep it simple with smoked salmon,\u201d recommends Schenker.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re looking for something easy for lunch, smoked salmon in a bagel or a sandwich is a good option. Smoked salmon also goes really nicely with scrambled or poached eggs.\u201d<\/p>\n Mackerel<\/p>\n \u201cMackerel is also a great source of omega-3 and smoked mackerel just comes in a packet that you can add to a salad,\u201d says the dietitian.<\/p>\n Sardines<\/p>\n \u201cA tin of sardines is pretty cheap and there\u2019s lots of things you can do with them,\u201d says Schenker. \u201cSome people like to put them in tomato sauce or to have them on toast.\u201d<\/p>\n You can also make a fast, healthy, and creamy dip using canned sardines.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you get sardines in oil, you can mash them together with a little bit of soft cheese and make a nice dip,\u201d suggests Schenker.<\/p>\n Tuna<\/p>\n \u201cFresh tuna can be expensive, but it can be nice to have once in a while,\u201d says Schenker. \u201cTuna steaks are pretty easy to cook as you can just pan fry them on one side for two minutes and then turn them over and do the same thing on the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n Edamame beans<\/p>\n \u201cYou can buy edamame beans from frozen and just chuck a handful into a stir fry, a salad or a soup,\u201d recommends the dietitian.<\/p>\n Chia seeds<\/p>\n \u201cChia seeds can be expensive, but if you shop around you should be able to find a big bag of them in an international supermarket for a lower price,\u201d says Schenker.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could soak them in yoghurt overnight which makes them swell up and makes a nice filling breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n Flax seeds<\/p>\n \u201cYou could stir flax seeds through your yoghurt or muesli for breakfast,\u201d suggests the dietitian.<\/p>\n Walnuts<\/p>\n \u201cA handful of walnuts are a good thing to have as a snack,\u201d says Schenker.<\/p>\n Using walnuts to make a muhammara dip is also a great summertime snack.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can make a delicious dip with a small handful of breadcrumbs, walnuts, roasted red peppers, pomegranate molasses and olive oil,\u201d recommends Schenker.<\/p>\n \u201cThat will keep in the fridge for a few days, and you can just have it with crackers or as an accompaniment to whatever you might be eating.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortified products<\/p>\n \u201cThere are also foods that are fortified with omega-3, so you could look for some of those,\u201d says Schenker.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, you can buy eggs that have come from hens that have been fed an omega-3 rich diet and you can even get fish fingers and butter that have been fortified with omega-3.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[103,61,60,446],"class_list":["post-585934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Which?](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Fish-oil-pills.jpg\")
Which? highlighted that consumers could be paying twice as much for products offering no more active omega-3 than significantly cheaper alternatives on the market.<\/p>\n![\"There](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/06101434-b5b6eb3d-97c9-4f27-927b-2c997aef9172.jpg\")
There are plenty of natural sources of omega-3 (Alamy\/PA) (Alamy\/PA)<\/p>\n![\"Smoked](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/06123409-a4e6d17b-6060-494f-a1d0-d56da7069802.jpg\")
Smoked mackerel is a great source of omega-3 (Alamy\/PA)<\/p>\n![\"Edamame](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/01KZBHNVDP95A3YNZ9TC5GGWVZ.jpg\")
Edamame beans can be added to stir-frys, salads or soups. (Alamy\/PA)<\/p>\n![\"Walnuts](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/iStock-531534806.jpeg\")
Walnuts are great as a quick snack or used to make dips. (Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\n