How long does a 90 softgel bottle of fish oil last?

Lasts by the count, and the arithmetic of a year at each rung

How long does a 90 softgel bottle of fish oil last is a question with two senses of lasts, the count and the freshness, and the honest page answers both, because they happen to agree at the dose most readers take and to disagree at the tub size the shelf pushes. By the count: a ninety-count tub lasts ninety days at one softgel a day, a quarter of a year to within a day, which is the audit's dose for a low-fish plate and the register's 250mg heart claim met by a standard 300mg softgel; forty-five days at two a day, the dose that meets the 250mg of DHA the brain function and vision claims ask for from a standard softgel carrying 120mg of DHA; and thirty days at three a day, the gram-a-day rung for the omega-3 index research range, a month to the tub. The arithmetic of a year: at one a day, four tubs and a few softgels of a fifth, around sixty pounds at £14.99 a tub, and at three a day, twelve tubs, around a hundred and eighty pounds, the beneficial-daily page's prices, with the per-softgel cost at 17p unchanged across the rungs and the per-day cost at 17p, 33p and 50p. The count sense also carries the missed-day note: a reader who forgets a day does not double the next, a months-long membrane pool averaging a missed day without noticing, so a ninety-count at a nominal one a day actually lasts ninety days plus however many were missed, and a tub that outlasts its quarter by a fortnight has recorded a fortnight of forgotten softgels rather than any change in the dose.

Lasts by the freshness, where the two senses agree and disagree, the right tub size at each rung, and the senses filed

By the freshness: fish oil is a polyunsaturated fat, and once a tub is opened its oil meets air, light and warmth and begins to oxidise, the aldehydes of oxidation being the paint and old-nut smell that repeats on the breath all day and that the bite test detects, the oxidation literature's account, so an opened tub stays fresh for around two to three months if kept cool, dark and closed between doses, with a longer life in a fridge for a liquid and a shorter one on a sunny windowsill or a warm kitchen shelf, and the manufacturer's best-before date applying to the sealed tub rather than the opened one. Where the two senses agree is at one a day: a ninety-count tub opened and taken daily is finished in a quarter, at about the point where its freshness would have started to fail, so the tub size and the dose are matched and a reader never takes a rancid softgel, which is the reason ninety is the sensible count for a one-a-day product and the reason this site's audit sends a reader to a ninety-count tub a quarter. At two and three a day the count runs ahead of the freshness, a ninety-count finished in six weeks or a month with freshness to spare, which is fine, and a reader at three a day buys a tub a month or a larger tub finished within its freshness window. Where the two senses disagree is the bulk tub: a 365-count at one a day is opened for a year, which is four times the freshness window, so its last two-thirds are taken from an oil that has been oxidising for months, and the bulk price per softgel, often a few pence lower, buys a rancid final half, the false economy of the fish oil shelf, with the fix being either the quarter's tub or a bulk tub split into a sealed reserve and a working tub, or simply the three-a-day rung for which the bulk tub is a quarter's supply. The senses filed: ninety days at one, forty-five at two and thirty at three by the count, two to three months by the freshness, agreement at one a day in a ninety-count tub finished in a quarter, a month's tub at three a day with freshness to spare, and the bulk tub at one a day as the size that goes rancid before it is empty, with the worked example being the quarter's tub, 90 at one a day for £14.99, or a month's at three.

The verdict, a quarter at one a day in both senses, a month at three, and a bulk tub that outlives its freshness

How long does a 90 softgel bottle of fish oil last: by the count, ninety days at one softgel a day, forty-five at two and thirty at three, with four tubs a year at one and twelve at three, and by the freshness, around two to three months once opened if kept cool, dark and closed, checked by the bite test for a paint or old-nut taste, so that the two senses agree at one a day, a ninety-count finished in a quarter exactly as its freshness would run out, which makes it the matched size for the heart claim's dose, run ahead at three a day into a month's tub with freshness to spare, and disagree for a bulk tub, a 365-count at one a day being opened for a year and rancid before it is empty. The quarter's tub or a month's at three: Futuro Labs Omega 3 Fish Oil, 90 softgels, 180mg EPA and 120mg DHA each, £14.99 at 17p a softgel.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

How many days does a 90 capsule bottle of fish oil last?

Ninety days at one a day, a quarter of a year, forty-five at two and thirty at three, with a missed day making the tub last a day longer rather than calling for a double the next day, since a months-long membrane pool averages a missed day without noticing.

How long does fish oil last once opened?

Around two to three months if kept cool, dark and closed between doses, the oil oxidising with air, light and warmth into the paint-smelling aldehydes the bite test detects, with the best-before date applying to the sealed tub and a warm, sunny shelf shortening the opened life.

Is it cheaper to buy a big bottle of fish oil?

Per softgel, often by a few pence, and it is a false economy at one a day: a 365-count is opened for a year, four times the freshness window, so its last two-thirds come from an oil that has been oxidising for months, while a ninety-count at one a day is finished in a quarter as freshness runs out, and a bulk tub suits only the three-a-day reader who finishes it in a quarter.

How many bottles of fish oil do I need for a year?

Four ninety-count tubs and a few softgels of a fifth at one a day, around sixty pounds at £14.99 a tub, eight at two a day, and twelve at three a day, around a hundred and eighty pounds, with the per-softgel cost at 17p unchanged across the rungs.

Should I keep fish oil in the fridge?

A liquid oil, yes, once opened, which slows oxidation, and softgels may go in the fridge or stay somewhere cool and dark with the lid closed, either being fine, the things to avoid being a sunny windowsill, a warm kitchen shelf, an open lid and a tub kept for longer than two to three months after opening.

Sources

1. The fish oil oxidation literature: oxidation is measured by peroxide value, anisidine value and their combination as TOTOX, with the industry monograph setting limits of 5, 20 and 26 respectively, and surveys of retail fish oils finding a meaningful share above those limits, freshness being a quality dimension a label rarely shows and a certificate does. PubMed record
2. The omega-3 index kinetics literature: red-cell EPA and DHA rise over three to four months of daily intake and fall over a similar period after stopping, the index changing on a clock of months rather than days, with no acute effect of a single dose. PubMed record
3. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products. Scientific opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to EPA and DHA and normal function of the heart (250mg daily condition of use). EFSA Journal 2010;8(10):1796. https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/1796
4. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products. Scientific opinion on health claims related to DHA: maintenance of normal brain function and normal vision (250mg DHA daily condition of use). EFSA Journal 2010;8(10):1734. https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/1734

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