Vegan Omega 3 DHA, EPA & DPA from Algae | Vegan Society Certified, Sustainably Sourced, True Full Spectrum | 120 Veggie Softgels (Carrageenan Free)

UPDATE 7-Sep-2025: I've been meaning to update this review for a while. My last three shipments of this supplement have been free of the smelly residue. The capsules actually still have an oily residue coating them, but now it's a lemon oil, which smells lovely. My guess would be that the manufacturer realized they needed a food-safe lubricant in their machine to prevent the capsules from breaking open and covering everything with algal oil, and they chose lemon oil. No complaints here, as the low-viscosity lemon oil residue also has the nice effect of (mostly) preventing the capsules from sticking together in the bottle. I have changed my rating to five stars. UPDATE 22-May-2024: My shipment in late April was affected in exactly the same way as my shipment in late March: a smelly, oily residue coating the capsules, making them stick together in the bottle. Naturalis reached out to me via Amazon to offer me a complementary replacement from their "newest batch that has just been quality released," which I accepted. While the replacement has somewhat less oil coating the capsules, it's still there, and it still smells, albeit in a somewhat different way, seemingly less like algae. I wonder if they changed their source. The same product really wasn't like this earlier this year: the capsules were dry and did not stick together, and I could place them in a pill container with other pills without making an oily mess. That is not possible anymore. I am wondering if these vegan capsules just cannot reliably survive the environmental conditions of the supply chain from manufacturing to customer delivery. Maybe it would be safer to stock up during the winter months when warehouses and delivery vans aren't so hot. ----- Several recent reviews have mentioned that the algal oil is somehow escaping its capsules and coating the entire contents of the bottles. My most recent shipment of this product, shipped in late March 2024, was affected by this issue as well. However, my previous shipment, shipped in late January 2024, was perfect — no smell or residue, completely dry capsules — so I have to wonder if some manufacturing error caused an entire batch of capsules to become covered in algal oil, and Naturalis chose to ship them anyway. I am hoping that my next shipment will be from a new batch that will be okay. It's really a shame because this is otherwise an outstanding product. Every four months, I run a suite of lab tests on my blood, and since I switched from Amandean's omega-3 supplement to Naturalis, my EPA levels (as a fraction of my blood plasma fatty acids) have increased from 0.4-0.6% (Amandean) to 0.8-1.1% (Naturalis), and my DHA levels have increased from 1.5-2.2% (Amandean) to 2.4-2.8% (Naturalis). I have not been testing for DPA, so I cannot comment on that, but I do appreciate that the Naturalis supplement includes it, whereas the Amandean does not. From these test results, it does appear to me as though the Naturalis omega-3 supplement is more bio-available, although I am not a nutritionist and cannot definitively say it is so. To address the offensive odor and flavor, I have found that I can hold two capsules loosely in my hand and swish them around under running cold water while gently rolling them against the palm of my hand with my fingers, and that just about removes most of the algal oil residue. Then, if I pop them in my mouth and very quickly down them with an entire glass of water, making sure while drinking the water to rub my tongue around the area of my teeth and gums where the capsules were making contact, then I can avoid almost all of the unpleasant taste, and then I experience no aftertaste. The same most definitely cannot be said if I pop the pills straight into my mouth from the bottle. Disgusting! And I have to remember to wash my hand with soap afterward, or it too smells of algae. On the upside, at least I can very confidently confirm that oil used in these capsules is indeed sourced from algae, as it 100% smells and tastes like it. To their credit, I do appreciate that Naturalis does not use carrageenan in their capsules and that they source oil from algae cultivated in clean facilities, unlike the Chinese lichen-derived oil used in some other brands. Now, if Naturalis could get their manufacturing process under control again and produce capsules without coating them in an oily residue that smells and tastes like a dirty aquarium, then this would be a 5-star product. Until then, I am giving it 3 stars, as the impact on my blood fatty acid profile is still excellent, and the offenses to the senses can mostly be worked around.

Update: Changing my 3 stars to 1. To give the company the benefit of the doubt (maybe bad batch, or problem with quality control) I got another bottle after i FORCED myself to finish the first one. YUK! I removed the plastic seal around the cap on this second bottle (already a stink) and the I removed the seal----UGH, it was so bad it immediately stunk up my bathroom! I recapped it right away and threw the entire bottle in the garbage bin outside. Literally money thrown away. It tastes like a dirty fish tank. The 1st bottle I bought was ok—no taste no smell, no aftertaste. I was thrilled! Finished the 1st bottle and bought a 2nd, but this 2nd bottle?? Ugh!! Looks like one of the little capsules broke in shipping/packing and when I opened the seal, YIKES! The smell! I’m currently holding my nose as I place 2 capsules on a tissue, gently wipe all the oil off the outside of the capsules with the tissue (don’t put them in a pill container because then ALL other supplements will taste like a fish tank) and gulp this algae down with juice (careful not to let the capsules touch my lips because it happened once and ugh I could taste AND smell them!) And yes, there is aftertaste with this 2nd bottle. Not as bad as fish oil, but still. I’ll try another bottle once I’m through with this disgusting batch to see if this was just a bad bottle but honestly, if the 3rd bottle is anything like this one, I’ll toss it and then give a 1 star and get another brand.

My last bottle of this, all of the capsules in the entire bottle were stuck together in one whole glob that you could not get apart, every day having to pry two apart from the glob with a knife, plus, THEY STINK TO HIGH HEAVEN!! Can't get rid of the odor and the odor sticks to everything - the glass where I drink from to swallow the capsules one at a time, and if I touch the capsules my fingers stink. When I take the cap off the bottle I can smell the odor coming out of the bottle. Terrible choice. Do not buy! I cancelled my subscription. My previous bottles were not this bad. I don't know what the company did to these!

10/25 update: I was contacted by the seller regarding my review. They said “Sometimes the warehouse storage conditions are out of our control and might make the softgel really sticky due to heat”. Seller offered to make it right and give me a refund/replacement. Hopefully this batch is good since this product seems to have good ingredients without a bunch of additives. Fingers crossed. I’ll update. -I usually don’t write bad reviews but this pills are so rancid. First time I bought them they were great. Second time, rancid (bad fish smell, sticking together, bad after taste, burps). I decided to trash them. Third time I order, same situation. Amazon won’t return your money because is a supplement. I don’t know if the manufacturer had a bad batch or the distributors don’t keep them in a cool temperature room or whatever. But last 2 bottles were a waste of money. What a shame. Ingredients looked good in bottle. Not buying again.

I purchased again because the 1st bottle was great. The second order the bottle stinks badly! It even stinks up your fingers just picking the capsule up. Probably wont order again because there is no refund and I cant afford to keep wasting $40!! Very disappointed. Changed to 1 star due to no response from seller still almost a month later from leaving this review! It is bad business in my opinion not to stand behind your product when there was an obvious issue with one or more batches of these given that there were quite a few people that left reviews with the same problem as mine. Stand behind your product Naturalis and refund or replace! ******* Naturalis backed their product and sent new bottles that are great again! :) Will purchase from again! Thank you Naturalis for being an upstanding company!!