What is the GOED Voluntary Monograph?

The GOED Voluntary Monograph (中文版) has served as the omega-3 industry’s standard of quality since 2002. The standard was developed by the members of the Omega-3 Working Group at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, which was the predecessor to GOED. Developed to help ensure that omega-3 oils reaching consumers are both safe and of high quality, the companies that participated in developing the Monograph incorporated the strictest quality and purity standards from regulations around the world. This ensures that any oil manufactured to the Monograph standards can be sold around the world.

On which quality parameters does the Monograph focus?

The GOED Monograph focuses on oxidative quality, environmental contaminants and the measurement of EPA and DHA. The Monograph's last update was in January 2022.  

The GOED Technical Guidance Documents are additional documents that are appended to the Monograph, and are designed to provide assistance on technical and quality topics. The first part contains information on the methods needed to follow the GOED Monograph, while the second part contains useful information on a range of additional methods that are not binding for members but can be helpful for the analysis of EPA/DHA-rich oils, and the third part contains information for specific types of oils. GOED's Technical Committee is in in charge of keeping this document updated.

How does the Monograph help omega-3 consumers?

The standards in the GOED Monograph are the benchmark for quality in the global industry, which helps ensure that consumers have access to high quality products. We encourage all companies that market and manufacture omega-3 products that fall within the scope of the Monograph to meet these standards as a minimum and all GOED members are required to adhere to the Monograph as a condition of membership.

GOED's randomized testing program has found that members' products consistently passed the requirements necessary to meet the monograph standards.

[GOED members can log in and refresh this page to access historical versions of the Monograph.]