The evidence for the health benefits of fish oil is overwhelming and you really ought to be taking Omega 3 supplements if you’re not already. But today I want to consider fish oil purity issues.
What does purity have to do with taking Omega 3 supplements? Sadly, quite a lot. Most fish is contaminated with such toxins as mercury, PCBs and dioxine. In fact the FDA tell us not to eat too much fish for this reason.
And if manufacturers use fish oil for their supplements, as they do, then there’s a risk of contamination of our capsules. Some have been withdrawn in the past for issues of Omega 3 purity, or lack of it.
So an organization was set up called the International Fish Oil Standards (IFOS). This sets out maximum levels of contaminants in fish oil like arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, PCBs and dioxine.
This sounds great until you realize that this is all voluntary, no fish oil supplement manufacturers are required to comply with these standards, and they can sell supplements that don’t comply.
Now there’s more, there’s actually at least 4 sets of different standards for fish oil purity and none are binding.
This confuses the issue. What standard does a manufacturer comply with, if any? One company that makes Omega 3 capsules has decided that it’s all too hard, and the standards are too lax anyway, and set it’s own standards.
And it’s standards are stricter than all 4 of the current International standards. On mercury, or example, it’s standard is 10 times lower (ie 10 times stricter) than that of the International Fish Oil Standards.
Arsenic and lead are the same, 10 times lower than that set by the International Fish Oil Standards.
But what’s the point if you set the standards then don’t meet them? And who knows anyway.
This company can see the problem and makes every effort to make their standards, and their own results, totally transparent. They use 2 separate independent labs to test each batch of fish oil they use and then publish the Certificate of Analysis they get on their website so you and I can see it. There’s no detected toxins at all.
So it’s sad to say but it’s true, there are contaminants in fish and so there can also be in your supplements. You really do need to consider issues of fish oil purity.
Do this to make sure your fish oil supplements are improving your health, not damaging it.
I tell you on my website where to source fish oil capsules with no detectable levels of contamination.
Want to find Omega 3 capsules with the highest Fish Oil Purity? Or find out more about Fish Oil Benefits? Visit Peter’s Website Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oil.
