New standard ensures safer fish oil

Möller’s introduces a new standard for fish oil capsules, developed and certified by DNV GL. Consumers can now rely on a third party assurance of the fish oil, that it is of high quality and controlled for environmental toxins.

Until now it has been hard for consumers to navigate in the fish oil market. The quality of fish oil varies, and not all products provide health benefits. With a wide range of products to choose from, and no official standards or parameters to benchmark quality, consumers have had no means of distinguishing high quality fish oil from lesser ones.

Möller’s, the omega-3 brand from Orkla Health, has provided fish oil to consumers since 1854. The company has now taken another step to demonstrate the quality of its products through the launch of a new comprehensive quality standard, which is also available for other producers.

"We see increasing number of requests from consumers about the traceability of the products, its origin and quality. Through the new product certification mark from DNV GL, consumers can be confident of the high quality," says Henning Søgaard, CEO of Orkla Health.

The mark will serve as a guarantee for high quality fish oil with very low levels of environmental toxins. In addition, the fish oil has high levels of the natural form of omega-3 (triglycerides).

The standard has come about through a long collaborative process between professionals in Orkla Health and DNV GL. A series of analyses and audits have been performed throughout the production process, from manufacturing to encapsulation and packaging. DNV GL has audited the factories and their quality management systems, in order to certify that the products comply to high standards.

Complex food value chains require new standards

“The increasing complexity and size of the international food value chains result in an increased demand for food safety and quality certification,” says Luca Crisciotti, CEO of DNV GL - Business Assurance.

In EU alone there are around 12 million producers of agricultural products, which again is being processed by 300 000 food and beverage companies. The food processers then sell their products through 2.8 million companies within the food distribution and food service industry to EU’s 500 million consumers.

“The need for third party certification and verification of products to ensure its reliability is an upwards trend that will increase. This new standard for fish oil jointly created with Orkla will greatly benefit consumers and contribute to improve the reputation of the industry as a whole,” ends Mr. Crisciotti.

The DNV GL mark confirms that:

• the product has minimal levels of environmental toxins.
• the product has  low oxidation levels, i.e. that the oil is not rancid.
• the product has high concentration of the healthy omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA.
• production, analyses and control mechanisms are reviewed and approved by DNV GL through a comprehensive annual audit of all production and packaging units.