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Fish Oil in Troubled Waters
Major fish oil manufacturers and drug stores are being sued for failing to disclose the PCB pollutants in fish oil supplements.
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
In one of my videos last year, I noted that the fish oil distillation process was found ineffective at removing all the industrial contaminants from fish oil, so even “PCB-free” fish oil may be anything but.
Isn’t there a law in California, though, that makes it illegal to sell toxic substances that cause cancer or birth defects without at least a warning label? I’ve never seen such a label on fish oil, and neither did the Environmental Justice Foundation, and so they sued CVS, GNC, Rite-Aid, along with the major fish oil manufacturers.
To do so, of course, they had to prove the fish oil you find in stores actually contains PCBs, so they went out and grabbed ten, and tested them. Some had 70 times the PCBs of others, and 240 times the toxicity.
This is why we should get our long chain omega-3s without any risk of toxins by choosing microalgae or yeast-based EPA/DHA supplements—nutritionally equivalent; a safe and convenient source, without the toxic waste.
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- Hoh E, Lehotay SJ, Pangallo KC, Mastovska K, Ngo HL, Reddy CM, Vetter W. Simultaneous quantitation of multiple classes of organohalogen compounds in fish oils with direct sample introduction comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Apr 8;57(7):2653-60.
- Arterburn LM, Oken HA, Bailey Hall E, Hamersley J, Kuratko CN, Hoffman. Algal-oil capsules and cooked salmon: nutritionally equivalent sources of docosahexaenoic acid. J Am Diet Assoc. 2008 Jul;108(7):1204-9.
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
In one of my videos last year, I noted that the fish oil distillation process was found ineffective at removing all the industrial contaminants from fish oil, so even “PCB-free” fish oil may be anything but.
Isn’t there a law in California, though, that makes it illegal to sell toxic substances that cause cancer or birth defects without at least a warning label? I’ve never seen such a label on fish oil, and neither did the Environmental Justice Foundation, and so they sued CVS, GNC, Rite-Aid, along with the major fish oil manufacturers.
To do so, of course, they had to prove the fish oil you find in stores actually contains PCBs, so they went out and grabbed ten, and tested them. Some had 70 times the PCBs of others, and 240 times the toxicity.
This is why we should get our long chain omega-3s without any risk of toxins by choosing microalgae or yeast-based EPA/DHA supplements—nutritionally equivalent; a safe and convenient source, without the toxic waste.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Hoh E, Lehotay SJ, Pangallo KC, Mastovska K, Ngo HL, Reddy CM, Vetter W. Simultaneous quantitation of multiple classes of organohalogen compounds in fish oils with direct sample introduction comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Apr 8;57(7):2653-60.
- Arterburn LM, Oken HA, Bailey Hall E, Hamersley J, Kuratko CN, Hoffman. Algal-oil capsules and cooked salmon: nutritionally equivalent sources of docosahexaenoic acid. J Am Diet Assoc. 2008 Jul;108(7):1204-9.
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Fish Oil in Troubled Waters
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Doctor's Note
For more on fish oil supplements, check out these videos:
Is Fish Oil Just Snake Oil?
PCBs in Children’s Fish Oil Supplements
Fish & Diabetes
Red Fish, White Fish; Dark Fish, Atrial Fibrillation
Be sure to check out my other videos on fish oil.
For more context, also see my associated blog posts: Soy milk: shake it up! and Probiotics and Diarrhea.
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