Review of Walmart’s Spring Valley Fish Oil
Bottle of Spring Valley Fish Oil
Spring Valley Fish Oil is one of the more popular fish oil supplements sold by Walmart and other retailers.
Here we’ll look at who actually makes it for Walmart, what’s the overall purity and quality, and comparison of the enteric-coated, 1200 mg and 1400 mg and mini-soft gel product lines.
The brand name, Spring Valley, is a private-label brand owned by Walmart.
Since it’s a private-label product, Walmart doesn’t make it; they out-source its production from a 3rd-party manufacturer called Ocean Nutrition Canada (ONC).
Ocean Nutrition Canada is one of the largest fish oil manufacturers in North America.
They’re licensed to produce and supply high concentration fish oils to many nutritional supplement companies around the world.
Their flagship omega 3 ingredient is called MEG-3 and this is the main ingredient found in Spring Valley fish oils.
Some of the original ingredient labels may indicate that the product contains MEG-3, but some don’t show it. However, the Ocean Nutrition Canada website contains articles about Spring Valley product labels and the benefits of MEG-3.
The fish sources used include anchovy, sardines, mackerel or herring.
All of these fish species are reported to contain naturally high levels of the omega 3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
How Good is the Purity and Quality?
Walmart introduced this product to the nutritional supplement market in 2004. At the time, Ocean Nutrition Canada stated that their fish oils are one of the purest and safest available.
They claim follow standards set by a number of national regulatory bodies, including Health Canada’s Health Products and Food Branch Inspectorate cGMP requirements, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) and the European Commission.
Their website also states their Quality Control program complies with the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s (CRN) Omega-3 Monograph, HACCP, and cGMP, including cGMP compliance for pharmaceuticals in Canada.
Overall, the quality and purity of these fish oils appears to be high. This product is also verified by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). This is pretty impressive as products receiving a USP Verified Mark means that it contains the ingredients stated on the label in the declared amounts, doesn’t contain harmful contaminants, will break down in the body within a specific time frame and made according to FDA standards.
Comparison of Dosage Sizes, Ingredients and Enteric Soft Gels
You can get them in a variety of forms, dosages and bottle sizes.
There are 3 main dosage sizes:
- 1000 mg
- 1200 mg
- 1400 mg
Here’s what you get in each dosage size:
| Total Amount of EPA | Total Amount of DHA | Total Omega 3 Fatty Acids | Enteric-Coating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 mg Soft Gel | ||||
| 1200 mg Soft Gel | ||||
| 1400 mg Soft Gel |
At press time, we found Spring Valley Enteric Coated Soft Gels are only available in the 1200 mg and 1400 mg soft gel size.
Review of Spring Valley Fish Oil Enteric-Coated Soft Gel Ingredients
One of the main benefits of enteric coated fish oils is they can help improve digestion and may help reduce side effects, such as fish burps.
Enteric-coatings can be made from shellacs, waxes, fatty acids, plant fiber or plastics. Some health-conscious consumers may prefer to use products made as naturally as possible.
You can get this product with or without the enteric-coating.
The following ingredients were listed on a variety of Spring Valley fish oil product labels:
| Ingredient | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Purified water | Natural | |
| Ethylcellulose | Plant-based | Extracted from wood pulp |
| Ammonium hydroxide | Synthetic | |
| Medium chain triglycerides | Plant-based | Extracted from coconut and/or palm kernels |
| Oleic acid | Plant-based | Extracted from Safflower or Palm oils |
| Sodium Alginate | Plant-Based | Brown Seaweed |
| Purified Stearic Acid | Animal or Plant-Based |
Other enteric-coating ingredients we found listed on some bottle labels included:
- Glycerin
- Methacrylic Acid Copolymer
- Triethyl Citrate
- Poylsorbate 80
- Propylene Glycol
- Tocopherols
- Corn Oil / Sunflower Oil
- Carboxymethocellulose Sodium
- Talcum
- Beeswax
- Carnauba Wax
- Glycerol Monostearate
- Silicon Dioxide
*Important Note: Not all of the above ingredients may be found in your actual bottle of fish oil. The soft gel ingredients may depend on the country of origin and the company that manufactures the actual product. It’s recommended you check the actual ingredient label of the product you’re interested in purchasing.
Cost of Spring Valley Fish Oils
When we compared prices with a number of popular online retailers, we found the average prices ranged from $5 – $10 for a bottle of 60, up to about $20 for the 250 count bottle.
Depending on where you buy your product from, the price per capsule can range from 0.03 up to 10.00 per soft gel.
Taken as a general fish oil supplement, you probably can’t go wrong by choosing Spring Valley fish oil. Compared to similar products, such as Costco’s Kirkland Fish Oil, you get a highly-purified, enteric-coated supplement at an affordable price.
However, this product may not be suitable if you’re seeking a higher concentration of EPA and DHA. You may want to look into using a pharmaceutical-grade fish oil which may provide higher amounts of omega 3 fatty acids per dosage.
Consumers’ Reviews of Spring Valley Fish Oils
At press time, the customer reviews at the larger online retailers, like Amazon.com and Walmart.com, shows that the majority of people were pleased with this product.
Many positive features cited were the affordable price and customer claims of experiencing positive health benefits.
Some people found the larger 1400 mg size harder to swallow, but this could be remedied by choosing the smaller-sized dosages. There were a small number of complaints about some of the ingredients used for the enteric-coatings.
at Amazon.com
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