Foods high in omega-3: ranked by France's official Ciqual table
According to the 2025 Ciqual table from ANSES, France's food safety agency, the top three everyday foods highest in omega-3: “Cod liver, canned, drained” (7.14 g per 100 g), “Mackerel, fillet, in mustard sauce, canned, drained” (4.5 g) and “Atlantic herring, smoked, in oil” (4.21 g).
What it does
Omega-3s are a family of essential fatty acids. The parent compound, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), is essential because your body can't make it. From ALA your body produces EPA and DHA, but conversion to DHA is too low to meet your needs, so DHA also has to come from food. These fatty acids are needed for the development and function of the retina, brain and nervous system. For the heart, France's food safety agency ANSES recognizes that they lower blood pressure in people with hypertension and reduce blood triglycerides.
EPA + DHA: the richest fish and seafood
| Rank | Food | Group | g / 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cod liver, canned, drained | Fish products | 7.14 |
| 2 | Mackerel, fillet, in mustard sauce, canned, drained | Fish products | 4.5 |
| 3 | Atlantic herring, smoked, in oil | Fish products | 4.21 |
| 4 | Salmon roe, semi-preserved | Fish products | 3.5 |
| 5 | Pilchard, in tomato sauce, canned, drained | Fish products | 3.14 |
| 6 | Caviar, semi-preserved | Fish products | 3.13 |
| 7 | European pilchard or sardine, in tomato sauce, canned, drained | Fish products | 2.77 |
| 8 | Trout roe, canned | Fish products | 2.57 |
| 9 | Atlantic herring, grilled/pan-fried without added fat | Fish, cooked | 2.28 |
| 10 | Salmon, grilled/pan-fried without added fat | Fish, cooked | 2.28 |
| 11 | Rillettes, salmon, prepacked | Fish products | 1.69 |
| 12 | Swordfish, roasted/baked | Fish, cooked | 1.51 |
| 13 | Lump roe, semi-preserved | Fish products | 1.48 |
| 14 | Salmon, smoked | Fish products | 1.42 |
| 15 | Atlantic herring, marinated, or rollmops, prepacked | Fish products | 1.23 |
| 16 | Cod roe, smoked, semi-preserved | Fish products | 1.21 |
| 17 | Rillette, fish, prepacked | Fish products | 1.08 |
| 18 | Tuna, canned in brine, drained | Fish products | 1.07 |
| 19 | Trout, smoked, farmed | Fish products | 0.99 |
| 20 | Salmon carpaccio, with marinade, home-made | Fish products | 0.97 |
How much you need
There is no nutrient reference value (NRV) for omega-3s. For adults, EFSA (2010) sets an adequate intake of 0.5% of calories from ALA and 250 mg a day of EPA and DHA combined, plus 100 to 200 mg of extra DHA during pregnancy and breastfeeding. France's ANSES aims higher: 1% of calories from ALA, about 2.2 g a day on a 2,000 kcal diet, plus 250 mg of DHA and 250 mg of EPA, or 500 mg of EPA and DHA combined. That's why the rankings on this page keep the two families apart: EPA and DHA from seafood, ALA from plants.
ALA: the richest plant sources
| Rank | Food | Group | g / 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linseed oil | Vegetable oils | 53.4 |
| 2 | Camelina oil | Vegetable oils | 36.4 |
| 3 | Flaxseed, brown, seed | Nuts and seeds | 21 |
| 4 | Chia, seed, dried | Nuts and seeds | 17.8 |
| 5 | Hemp oil | Vegetable oils | 16.6 |
| 6 | Walnut oil | Vegetable oils | 11.9 |
| 7 | Hemp, seed, hulled | Nuts and seeds | 8.68 |
| 8 | Spreadable fat > 62% fat, half-salted | Margarines | 8.3 |
| 9 | Rapeseed oil | Vegetable oils | 7.83 |
| 10 | Walnut, kernel, dried | Nuts and seeds | 7.5 |
| 11 | Soy oil | Vegetable oils | 6.79 |
| 12 | Mayonnaise (70% fat min.), prepacked | Sauces | 6 |
| 13 | Wheat germ oil | Vegetable oils | 5.91 |
| 14 | Tartare sauce, prepacked | Sauces | 4.52 |
| 15 | Taramasalata, with cod eggs, prepacked | Fish products | 4.32 |
Practical tips
- Two servings of fish a week, one of them oily. That's the ANSES guideline, varying species and origins. In the Ciqual table, 100 g (3.5 oz) of grilled herring or salmon provides 2.3 g of EPA and DHA, more than nine times EFSA's reference.
- An ALA-rich oil every day. ANSES recommends canola (rapeseed) or walnut oil daily. Based on the Ciqual table, 10 g of canola oil provides almost 0.8 g of ALA, and the same amount of walnut oil about 1.2 g.
- Keep them for dressings. ANSES notes that some ALA-rich oils can't handle frying or high heat.
- Flax, chia, hemp, walnuts. Oils aside, flaxseed (21 g of ALA per 100 g), chia (17.8 g), hulled hemp seeds (8.7 g) and walnut kernels (7.5 g) rank among the best sources in the Ciqual table. But ALA doesn't replace the DHA in fish, since your body makes too little of it.
How this ranking is built
Values per 100 g of the food as described (raw, cooked, drained…), as published by ANSES, France's food safety agency, in the 2025 Ciqual table (3484 foods; omega-3 content known for 1451 of them). The everyday ranking leaves out spices, herbs, seaweed and condiments, supplements and foods for special medical purposes, baby foods, alcohol, and raw meat or fish (the cooked version is kept). To keep the examples varied, only one food per main name is kept (the richest). Values listed as “traces” count as zero; values below the quantification limit are not ranked.
Frequently asked questions
Which food has the most omega-3?
Top of the everyday foods in the 2025 Ciqual table from ANSES: “Cod liver, canned, drained”, with 7.14 g per 100 g, ahead of “Mackerel, fillet, in mustard sauce, canned, drained” (4.5 g) and “Atlantic herring, smoked, in oil” (4.21 g).
How much omega-3 do I need per day?
EFSA recommends 250 mg a day of EPA and DHA combined and 0.5% of calories from ALA; France's ANSES aims for 500 mg of EPA and DHA (250 mg of each) and 1% of calories from ALA, about 2.2 g on a 2,000 kcal diet. In practice, ANSES translates this into two servings of fish a week, one of them oily, and canola or walnut oil every day.
Which fish are highest in omega-3?
In the Ciqual table: canned mackerel fillets (up to 4.5 g of EPA and DHA per 100 g), smoked herring in oil (4.2 g), pilchards and sardines in tomato sauce (2.8 to 3.1 g), then grilled herring and salmon (2.3 g). Tuna canned in brine provides about 1 g.
Sources
- Anses. Table de composition nutritionnelle des aliments Ciqual 2025. doi:10.5281/zenodo.17550133
- EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for fats, including saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, and cholesterol. EFSA Journal. 2010. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1461
- Anses. Les lipides. 2021. anses.fr
- Anses. Les acides gras oméga 3. 2025. anses.fr
- Anses. Actualisation des repères du PNNS : révision des repères de consommations alimentaires. Avis et rapport d'expertise collective. 2016. anses.fr
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