Lawsuit Exposes Hidden Threat in Many Omega 3 Supplements

A lawsuit filed this month in a San Francisco Superior Court will likely leave a nasty taste in many omega-3 aficionados´ mouths. The lawsuit claims that 6 U.S. manufacturers and 2 drugstore chains failed to warn consumers about potentially toxic industrial chemicals that are often detected in fish and shark oil omega 3 supplements.

The compounds, called polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds, are commonly found in transformers, capacitors and coolants. PCBs are classified as "persistent organic pollutants," and were banned from production in the United States in 1979. However, many other countries around the world still manufacture these products and use them in products that may enter the United States. It is unlikely that anyone would deliberately include such toxins in their dietary supplements, but since many marine animals – including sharks, tuna, mackerel and even salmon, all of which are used to make omega 3 supplementary products – swim in waters contaminated by PCBs, they can be absorbed and retained by the animals and, ultimately, the products into which the animals are incorporated.

The non-profit organization Mateel Justice Foundation (MJF) is the plaintiff in the case, and plans to expand its testing of fish oil products to include more and more of the products on the market. MJF and several additional plaintiffs hope to lengthen the list of offenders and make more defendants and potential defendants start paying more attention to what they are manufacturing and selling.

While this scenario is bad, it is certainly not an uncommon one in the omega-3 supplement world. In fact, for decades pregnant women have been discouraged from consuming many omega-3 rich fish because those fish could contain toxins that might harm their babies. This is just an extension of that problem, albeit exacerbated by the fact that the companies were not entirely above-board with the information.

The best way to make sure that you are getting a natural, beneficial and toxin-free omega 3 supplement is to purchase one that comes with endorsements from entities like the World Health Organization (WHO) or the American College of Toxicology. Bodies like these cannot afford to recommend faulty products and do their own testing before issuing an endorsement.