Yes, ghee contains a little omega-3, but only a little: USDA FoodData Central lists 1.45 g of 18:3 fatty acid, the group that includes the plant omega-3 ALA, per 100 g of anhydrous butter oil, and no EPA or DHA. Mustard oil and flaxseed carry far more ALA, and oily fish supply the EPA and DHA that ghee lacks, so ghee is a minor source at best.
This article sets out the numbers from India's food regulator, India's dietary guidelines and the USDA food composition database, and shows where ghee sits beside the foods those guidelines actually name. It makes no claim about heart or brain health. If you are thinking about omega-3 because of a health condition, pregnancy or a medicine you take, follow your doctor's advice.
At a glance
- FSSAI's ghee standard sets C18:3, alpha-linolenic acid, at 0.3 to 1.0 per cent of ghee's total fatty acids.
- USDA FoodData Central lists 1.45 g of 18:3 per 100 g of anhydrous butter oil, and 0 g of EPA, DPA and DHA.
- On USDA figures, mustard oil has 5.9 g of 18:3 per 100 g and cold-pressed flaxseed oil 53.4 g of ALA.
- USDA lists 1.44 g of EPA plus DHA per 100 g of raw wild Atlantic salmon; for ghee it lists none.
- ICMR-NIN gives a minimum of about 2.2 g of omega-3 a day on a 2,000 kcal diet and names nuts, seeds, greens and fish as sources, not ghee.
Does ghee have omega-3 fatty acids?
It does, in a small amount. FSSAI's standard for ghee says C18:3, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), should make up 0.3 to 1.0 per cent of its total fatty acids. Put another way, every 100 g of ghee's fatty acids carries 0.3 to 1.0 g of ALA. That is real, but it is a minor share of the fat.
ALA is the omega-3 found in plant foods. The ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024) explain that the body cannot make it, along with linoleic acid, an omega-6, so both are "termed essential fatty acids" and must come from food.
The FSSAI range is part of a table titled "The fatty acid composition of ghee as determined by GLC", which ghee sold in India is required to meet. The same table puts linoleic acid at 0.5 to 3.5 per cent, and the saturated fats far higher: palmitic acid alone is 22 to 38 per cent. Omega-3 is one of the smallest lines in it.
How much omega-3 is in 100 g of ghee?
About 1.45 g of 18:3 fatty acid per 100 g, on the USDA record for anhydrous butter oil, the closest entry with a fatty acid breakdown. A teaspoon of 5 g, the measure ICMR-NIN uses, would then carry roughly 0.07 g. USDA lists no EPA, DPA or DHA at all.
Two caveats matter. First, USDA's own clarified butter (ghee) record is back-calculated from a product label. It gives total fat, saturated fat and total polyunsaturated fat, but no individual fatty acids, so it cannot answer this question. That is why we use the butter oil record.
Second, the butter oil record lists "18:3" as one figure. It does not separate ALA from other 18:3 forms, so 1.45 g is the ceiling for ALA in that sample, not a measured ALA value. It is also somewhat above FSSAI's 0.3 to 1.0 per cent range. The FSSAI figure is a permitted range, and a single database record will not match it exactly. We discuss what feed does to milk fat in our article on what "grass-fed" means on a ghee label.
How does ghee compare with mustard oil, flaxseed and fish?
Ghee trails all three on the omega-3 each is known for. On USDA figures, mustard oil has about four times as much 18:3 as butter oil, cold-pressed flaxseed oil about 37 times as much ALA, and oily fish supply EPA and DHA, which ghee lacks. Per 100 g:
| Food (per 100 g) | ALA or total 18:3 (g) | EPA + DHA (g) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Butter oil, anhydrous (ghee) | 1.45 (total 18:3) | 0 | USDA FoodData Central |
| Ghee, Indian standard | 0.3 to 1.0 per 100 g of fatty acids | Not listed | FSSAI 2.1.8 |
| Mustard oil | 5.9 (total 18:3) | Not listed | USDA FoodData Central |
| Flaxseed oil, cold pressed | 53.4 (ALA) | 0 | USDA FoodData Central |
| Atlantic salmon, wild, raw | 0.295 (total 18:3) | 1.44 (0.321 + 1.12) | USDA FoodData Central |
| Atlantic mackerel, raw | 0.159 (total 18:3) | 2.30 (0.898 + 1.40) | USDA FoodData Central |
The ratios come straight from the table: 5.9 ÷ 1.45 is about 4.1, and 53.4 ÷ 1.45 is about 36.8. The fish figures are from USDA's records for wild Atlantic salmon and Atlantic mackerel, both raw.
Gram for gram the fish look low on ALA, but that is not the point of them. Their omega-3 is mostly the long-chain kind, EPA and DHA. Fish are also far less fatty than an oil: USDA lists 6.34 g of fat per 100 g of wild salmon, against about 100 g for ghee or mustard oil.
For a fuller side-by-side of the two fats most Indian kitchens choose between, see our comparison of ghee and mustard oil.
Does ghee have EPA or DHA?
Not in any amount worth counting. USDA FoodData Central lists 0 g of EPA, DPA and DHA per 100 g of anhydrous butter oil. ICMR-NIN names fish, sea foods and micro algae as the sources of these long-chain omega-3 fats, and describes marine fish, other sea foods and eggs as good natural sources.
The difference matters because ICMR-NIN describes EPA and DHA as "biologically more active than short-chain alpha-linolenic (n-3) fatty acid present in plant foods". The body can make some EPA and DHA from ALA, but the guidelines warn that "only a small amount of n-3 PUFA will be converted" in this way, and call adequate long-chain omega-3 a challenge for vegetarians.
So even if ghee carried more ALA than it does, it would not be a substitute for a source of EPA and DHA. Those the guidelines look for in fish and sea foods.
Which foods do India's dietary guidelines name for omega-3?
Not ghee. ICMR-NIN says omega-3 "is available in walnuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, soyabean, fenugreek seeds, mustard and leafy vegetables", and advises marine fish such as salmon, mackerel, trout and tuna as good sources of long-chain omega-3. It lists ghee among the fats to limit.
The guidelines' Table 7.1 gives the approximate quantity of a food needed to supply at least 100 mg of omega-3. A few lines from it:
- Flaxseed oil: 0.2 g.
- Flaxseed (linseed): 0.5 g.
- Mustard or rapeseed oil: 0.7 g.
- Mustard seed: 2 g.
- Walnuts: 2 g.
- Oily fish (more than 5 per cent fat): 10 g.
Ghee does not appear in the table. On USDA's figure of 1.45 g of 18:3 per 100 g, reaching 100 mg would take about 6.9 g of ghee (100 mg ÷ 1,450 mg × 100 g), roughly ten times ICMR-NIN's 0.7 g of mustard oil, and all of it would be ALA rather than EPA or DHA.
The same chapter's points to register say: "Limit the use of high saturated-fat containing oils/fats such as ghee, butter etc." That is the guidelines' view of ghee as a fat, and it applies whatever its omega-3 content. We look at the saturated fat side in our article on whether ghee is a saturated fat.
Does ghee count towards your daily omega-3?
Only a little. ICMR-NIN puts the minimum requirement at 0.6 to 1.2 per cent of energy, about 2.2 g of omega-3 a day on a 2,000 kcal diet. At USDA's 1.45 g per 100 g, the 1 to 2 teaspoons of ghee the guidelines allow would supply 3 to 7 per cent of that.
The arithmetic, using ICMR-NIN's 5 g teaspoon:
| Ghee | Weight | 18:3 at 1.45 g per 100 g | Share of 2.2 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 5 g | 0.07 g (73 mg) | About 3 per cent |
| 2 teaspoons | 10 g | 0.15 g (145 mg) | About 7 per cent |
These are not suggested amounts; ICMR-NIN's own line is "Limit ghee or butter to just 1 to 2 teaspoons/day or avoid, if possible." The guidelines say that if one eats adequate nuts, oilseeds, pulses and beans, the 2.2 g of omega-3 is "easily met". In other words, the omega-3 in a day's diet is meant to come from those foods, not from the ghee on top.
For what else ghee carries in small amounts, see our article on the vitamins in ghee.
Why do some websites call ghee rich in omega-3?
We could not find a source that supports the claim. The two primary sources we opened, the FSSAI standard and USDA FoodData Central, both put ghee's omega-3 at no more than about 1.5 per cent of its fat, with no EPA or DHA in USDA's figures. "Contains omega-3" is true; "rich in omega-3" is not, on any figure we found.
We make ghee at Himdhara, and we would rather you knew this than bought ghee for a reason the numbers do not support. Ghee is a cooking fat with a flavour people value. It is not an omega-3 food.
The short version
Ghee has a small amount of omega-3: FSSAI sets ALA at 0.3 to 1.0 per cent of its fatty acids, and USDA lists 1.45 g of 18:3 per 100 g of anhydrous butter oil. It has no EPA or DHA worth counting. Mustard oil carries about four times as much 18:3 and flaxseed oil about 37 times as much ALA, while fish supply the EPA and DHA ghee lacks. ICMR-NIN names nuts, seeds, mustard, greens and fish as omega-3 sources and lists ghee among the fats to limit. If you are weighing omega-3 for a health reason, follow your doctor's advice.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011: Chapter 2.1, Dairy products and analogues (2.1.8 Standard for Milk Fat Products, Table 1). FSSAI.
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians. ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Butter oil, anhydrous. FoodData Central (SR Legacy).
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Oil, mustard. FoodData Central (SR Legacy).
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Oil, flaxseed, cold pressed. FoodData Central (SR Legacy).