Consumers may be turning away from fish oil in favor of a plant-sourced omega-3s for a few reasons, purity and stability being major ones. Retailers who wish to sell their fish oil products have an incentive to ensure their shoppers the products they offer do not pose these threats.
Stuart Tomc, CNHP, national educator for Nordic Naturals, noted consumers looking for stability should steer clear of fish oils that come in an ethyl ester form, which he said is not found in nature or naturally used by the human body. “A triglyceride form of fish oil is the better choice over an ethyl form of fish oil because the triglyceride form contains a glycerol backbone, stabilizing the oil molecules in their natural form,” he said. “This more stable, triglyceride form prevents rancidity and is a more natural form that resembles omega-3 fatty acids found in foods. The manufacturing process to make triglyceride form fish oils is more expensive, so many companies choose not to include this step.”
Terry Lemerond, president, EuroPharma Inc., said many fish oil products have been overly processed and purified, making it difficult for the body to absorb them. “The EPA and DHA found in fresh salmon oil are predominantly in the sn-2 (mid) position,” he said. “When fish oil is processed and refined, this results in a random redistribution of fatty acid, generally increasing the amount of unsaturated EFAs at the sn-1/sn-3 (terminal) positions of the carbon chain. Some products in the marketplace do not have the DHA and EPA as found in nature, and are therefore not well absorbed.” He noted Euorpharma’s Vectomega is sourced from salmon, but is not a traditional fish oil. In fish oils, the omega-3 fatty acids are attached to triglycerides as the transport vehicle; however, he said triglycerides are inefficient transporters of omega-3s. “In Vectomega, the omega-3 fatty acids are instead attached to phospholipids, which have been shown in studies to be absorbed 50 times better (or more) than the omega-3s in fish oil.”
When those omega-3s are absorbed, consumers want to be sure they don’t come with a lot of harmful toxins. “The biggest concern consumers raise is the ‘purity’ issue with respect to fish oil,” said Erin Silva, MS, RD, technical marketing manager, Vitamer Labs. “For some reason consumers think fish oil supplements are loaded with mercury, PCBs and other toxins that have never been in fish oil supplements to begin with; it’s a huge misperception.”
However, according to the AHA, some types of fish may contain high levels of mercury, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), dioxins and other environmental contaminants. They said levels of these substances are generally highest in older, larger, predatory fish and marine mammals. And, FDA advises children and pregnant women to avoid eating fish with the potential for the highest level of mercury contamination (e.g., shark, swordfish, king mackerel or tilefish). The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said every year, approximately 30 cases of poisoning by marine toxins are reported in the United States and they added health care providers are not required to report these illnesses, so the actual number of poisonings may be much greater. Add in warnings from the media, and it’s no wonder consumers are concerned about toxins in their fish, and this may translate to their fish oil as well.
While the overall global fish population may have issues with contamination, the fish typically used for fish oil are small in size, have short lifespans and are lower on the food chain than the big predatory fish that generally face great contamination challenges. Also, contaminants tend to collect in the meat of the fish, not the oil.
Another big concern for consumers regarding fish oil is sustainability. Many natural product consumers want to be healthy, but try to stay away from products that are perceived to harm the environment. “Sustainability is so important, as many of the common fish species used for fish oils are experiencing overfishing and severe population declines,” Terry Lemerond said.