Krill oil is pressed from krill, small shrimp-like crustaceans harvested by the tonne from the Southern Ocean, so it is an animal product whatever health claim is printed on the bottle.
Made fromKrill (small marine crustaceans)
Harvested fromSouthern Ocean trawl fisheries
VerdictNot vegan
Where it hides
Omega-3 supplements marketed as "krill oil"
Joint and heart-health supplement blends
Some pet supplements
Look for algal oil or algae omega-3 as the plant-based swap
What it is
Krill are small, shrimp-like crustaceans that swarm by the billions in cold oceans, most famously the Antarctic's Southern Ocean, where they are a keystone food source for whales, seals and penguins. Krill oil supplements are made by catching krill in large-scale trawl fisheries and pressing the oil out of them.
Primary source 01 / 02
LC omega-3s are present in several dietary supplement formulations, including fish oil, krill oil, cod liver oil, and vegetarian products that contain algal oil.
That government fact sheet groups krill oil with fish oil and cod-liver oil as animal-sourced supplement forms, setting them apart from algal oil, which it explicitly describes as a vegetarian option. Krill oil's main selling point over fish oil is how it carries its omega-3s.
Primary source 02 / 02
Krill oil contains omega-3s primarily as phospholipids.
That phospholipid structure is marketed as easier to absorb than the triglyceride form found in ordinary fish oil, but it does not change what krill oil is made from: a harvested marine animal, not a plant or an algae culture.
Omega-3 (EPA and DHA)Fish oil is not vegan, but the EPA and DHA in it start in algae, and algal oil delivers the same omega-3s. Plant ALA from flax and chia is vegan too.
Cod liver oilCod liver oil is exactly what its name says, oil extracted from the liver of a cod, which makes it an animal product regardless of the vitamins it happens to be rich in.
Omega-3s on a vegan dietThe Evidence · Flax and walnuts give you the parent omega-3. Turning it into the ones your brain and heart use is inefficient, which is where algae oil comes in.
Frequently asked
Is krill oil more sustainable than fish oil?
That is a separate question from whether it is vegan. Krill fisheries are managed under an international quota system because krill sit at the base of the Southern Ocean food web, but either way krill oil remains an animal product, so sustainability does not change the vegan verdict.
What is a vegan alternative to krill oil?
Algal oil, made from cultivated marine algae rather than a harvested animal, supplies the same EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids and is explicitly recognised as the vegetarian supplement option.
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