Fish Oil Supplements Supposedly Free of Contaminants
According to a recent report by Consumer Labs, 41 brands of omega-3 fish oil were found not to contain mercury and polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs).
Skeptical? I am, and I’ll tell you why. The page states:
None of the products contained detectable levels of mercury, nor unsafe levels of PCBs… Several of the products (footnoted below with a “†“ symbol in the “Purity” column) were additionally tested for dioxins, which can be found in some fish. However, none of these supplements contained unsafe levels of dioxins.
Only 5 of the 20 products displayed were tested for dioxins. Why only a select few? Because these companies paid to have their products tested for dioxins. What about the other 36 products? We’ll never know.
OK, so the dioxins weren’t really tested for. But what other problems were there with this study? The testing standards, for one:
- Contain 100% and not exceed 150% of the claimed amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA;
- Have a peroxide value (PV) of no more than 5 meq/kg, an anisidine value (AV) of no more than 20, and a TOTOX value of no more than 26 (calculated as (2 x PV) + AV) (CRN Monograph Recomendation);
- Contain less than 0.1 ppm of mercury (CRN Monograph Recomendation);
- Contain less than 0.09 mg/kg (ppm) of Total PCBs (sum of four non-ortho PCBs and eight mono-ortho PCBs). (CRN Monograph Recomendation);
- If tested for dioxins (sum of 17 individual dioxin congeners), contain no more than 2 TEF/g (expressed in World Health Organization (WHO) toxic equivalents as WHO-toxic equivalent factors (TEFs). (CRN Monograph Recomendation)
Sure, they were all tested according to CRN (The Council for Responsible Nutrition) standards. But how good are these standards?
Dr. Barry Sears discovered that the normal doses offered in these fish oils aren’t nearly adequate to get the desired benefits. In fact, that’s why his last book, The OmegaRX Zone, was subtitled The Miracle of the New High-Dose Fish Oil. (He discusses it at length in his new book, The Anti-Inflammation Zone — Highly Recommended!)
The International Fish Oil Standards is an organization that recognizes this as well and requires that all fish oils be tested MUCH more stringently. They require that all fish oil first past all WHO/CRN standards, however they also require that Oxidation, PCB Levels and Dioxin Levels be 50% less than CRN standards! Much more stringent than Consumer Labs standards!
