Have you checked your fish oil?

Have you ever taken the time to look at the ingredients list of your fish oil? More often than not you’ll find yourself just reading “Natural fish oil” as an ingredient.

You must be asking now… Why is it so vague? Where is my fish oil coming from? What fish have they used? Starting to smell a little fishy now isn’t it…?

The reality is with many of the fish oil companies with vague ingredients are probably clueless as to what goes into their oil. You may be thinking - So what!? This doesn’t matter to me!

When this “natural fish oil” is made anything and everything goes in into the industrial machines - could be; sharks, cod, catfish - You name it. Out of the approximately 33475 of the unique fish species that we have, you will probably find it in your “natural fish oil”. No body knows what goes in, all we know is fish feed and okay-ish fish oil comes out.

Gross right!? Feeling a little cat-fished now aren’t you? It’s almost like that one time you bought “Pork Sausages” made from beef, chicken and smidgen of pork with a side of Activa Transglutaminse (that’s meat glue).

Our planet is 71% water, that’s almost 3/4 of Earth’s composition. So, it would be fair to assume we’ve got quite a bit of living life that call all this water their home. But… many seem to forget about their environmental impacts on the sustainability of aquatic life. The biggest enemy of environmental and sustainability of the marine life is the fishing industry.United Nations conducted a study and announced that 90% of our global fisheries are being fully exploited, exploited or depleted. So next time you're in the fish section of your supermarket - every 10 fish you see, 9 of them will be unethically caught.

The power is in your hand’s to do your part to make a sustainable choice for the fish and our planet. Be an informed and smart consumer. Do your research, check labels and make sure certifications are valid. With fish oil make sure you know whats being put into it, make sure it has accreditation's to say it has been source sustainably. Or even, try alternatives like our green-lipped mussel oil - Naturally sourced in New Zealand, you know for sure it’s the real deal.

Ethical and Sustainable Choices

Increased in consumption of fish is putting stress in the sustainability of marine life. The method being used to fish are damaging the aquatic life and the environment.

We as smart consumers, should all strive to select foods that have the least negative impact on the environment. And when you do consume animal products, purchasing those that have been raised in an ethical, sustainable fashion is very important.

Fish Industry: ~~The Good~~, The Bad and The Ugly

Fish are being over fished. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation, about 90% of marine fish populations are either fully exploited, over-exploited, or depleted. Harvesting methods of fish are often questionable. Much of the fish end up in health supplements has been obtained in an unsustainable and earth-damaging manner.

THE BAD - Method of Fishing

Dredging method tends to tear up the seabed, affecting the aquatic life by destroying the sensitive ocean floor. Other fishing methods are not any better, they also have devastating consequences.

Pelagic longlines, which are 40-plus miles of floating lines that tend to catch everything, including tens of thousands of sea turtles, seabirds, dolphins every year.Aquaculture (Fish farming) is not good either. Many fish are administered antibiotics, typically live in overcrowded, polluted, stressful environments, And are fed processed fish pellets that can be contaminated with pesticides and other chemicals. Fish are used as Feeds.Mercury level – Higher the food chain higher the mercury level. GLM is a bottom feeder so has low/no level of mercury.

THE UGLY - Fish Oil Supplements

Fish oil supplements in New Zealand and Australia are highly oxidised and do not meet label content. Study conducted in 2015 by Auckland University-based Liggins Institute found most fish oil supplements sold in New Zealand and Australia were off to some degree.

1. The level of active essential fatty acids, EPA and DHA (the reason we take fish oil supplements) was, in all but three cases, much lower that stated on the bottle.

2. Over half the products tested had oxidized to a level higher than the recommended limit (which had nothing to do with the best before date).

Omega-3 fatty acids were known to be chemically fragile or "unstable", and can easily break down when exposed to natural conditions such as light, heat and oxygen.The study tested 36 brands of fish oil supplements capsules and used the international industry standard tests of oxidation.83% were oxidised beyond international recommended levels and how "off" they were had nothing to do with best-before date, price, or the country they came from. Four studies from North America, South Africa and Europe have also uncovered high levels of oxidation in fish oil supplements.

References:

1. Study by University of Auckland - https://www.nature.com/articles/srep07928

2. News article by NZ Herald - https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11679611