What Does Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil Really Mean?
So you've decided that there is sufficient evidence about the health benefits of Omega 3 fish oil and that it's time to start taking fish oil capsules. You've been researching Omega 3 on the Web and you keep coming across the term "pharmaceutical grade fish oil" or "pharmaceutical grade Omega 3".
Lets have a look at exactly what "pharmaceutical grade" means or doesn't mean.
Pharmaceutical grade is a marketing term. It is used by companies that manufacture or sell fish oil supplements to suggest to the buyer that their supplements contain clean pure fish oil.
There is good reason for them to make this claim because many people now realize that fish oil is generally contaminated with toxins such as Mercury and PCBs and other contaminants and for this reason the FDA recommends that we do not eat too much fish, particularly top of the food chain fish.
As fish is contaminated so are many fish oils and people are concerned that the fish oil in their Omega 3 supplements may also be contaminated. Therefore manufacturers and suppliers of Omega 3 supplements use the term "pharmaceutical grade Omega 3" to indicate the level of purity of their capsules.
However there is no formal definition of what "pharmaceutical grade fish oil supplements" really are. The US Pharmacopeia does not define it and there is no other formal definition.
In fact there are no binding standards governing the purity and cleanliness of Omega 3 supplements. I said no "binding" standards because there are in fact the number of international standards on fish oil purity however none of them are binding on any companies that manufacture Omega 3 supplements.
There is one called the International Fish Oil Standards (IFOS). Whilst this sounds very official it is in fact a private organization that exists to charge a fee for testing of fish oils.
There are at least 4 recognized international standards for Fish Oil purity. No manufacturer is required to comply with any of them. Some whose fish oils pass the IFOS standards make the claim that their supplements are "Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil" however as I previously mentioned this is purely marketing.
However there is the no doubt that anyone looking to take Omega 3 supplements should make careful investigation of purity and cleanliness of any capsules.
Any supplements that you buy should have clear evidence on the website of the purity of the fish oil used in the form of a certificate of analysis from an independent laboratory.
The manufacturer of the best Omega 3 supplements uses 2 independent laboratories to test their oil purity and publishes the certificate of analysis on the website so that all customers and potential customers can examine the results for themselves. These clearly show no detectable levels of any contaminants.
And this company also chooses to set it's own standards for its fish oil purity which are much stricter than any international standards. Their standard for Mercury contamination is 10 times lower than the international standards.
You're quite right to worry about fish oil purity but don't be fooled by any claims about "pharmaceutical grade fish oil supplements". It's a marketing term. Always satisfy yourself about the purity of your Omega 3 fish oil capsules with independent evidence from laboratory analysis.
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I know that some companies use enteric coating in their fish oil gel capsules. This is used in the pharmaceutical industry to protect drugs that could lose their effectiveness in the acid environment of the stomach.
I guess that the fish oil companies are using this to claim to be pharmaceutical grade.
Omega-3
I think it is the duty of the government to set a regulatory standard for health supplements.
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