FDBusiness.com

OmegaVeritas has developed an independent third-party test for determining the authenticity of salmon oil.

The recently established test, described as “the first of its kind”, is able to verify both ingredients and end-products, OmegaVeritas said. A substantial research and development effort, partly funded by The Norwegian Research Council, formed the basis for the test.

Together with Norwegian salmon oil producers Biomega, Marine Harvest, Nordlaks and Nutrimar, OmegaVeritas has optimised and validated analysis protocols and software algorithms, and has created a reference database for salmon oil. The aim was to build a system that is efficient and valid, the Norway-based company said, while also ensuring integrity and transparency.

“To have the salmon oil producers join us as partners has been crucial in order to ensure a successful build­‐up of the reference database. We greatly appreciate the time and effort they have put into the project. This shows that there is an interest and a need to protect the salmon oil category, and a need for the services we are providing,” said OmegaVeritas CEO Svein Erik Haugmo.

The system has been thoroughly tested to validate that the analysis is efficient and accurate, with results confirming that each salmon oil product contains exactly what is printed on the label.

“Following the recent successful launch of krill oil authentication, salmon oil was a natural next step for us,” continued Haugmo. “Salmon oil is a high-priced product category and we now have a validated system, which can help the honest and responsible players in the market protect their category.”

And Ulf Oldenborg, CEO of Natural Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures the OmegaMarine Forte+ brand of salmon oil and claims to be the first company to have brought salmon oil to market, added: “For the first time we are now actually able to verify through a third party test that our product is based on authentic salmon oil and in correct amounts. We have never had doubt in our suppliers – rather, [the test] confirmed that we are using the best suppliers, but this is obviously valuable for us as a company and our customers, who can now be even more certain that they are getting premium quality salmon oil when they buy our products. We are convinced that, with the introduction of this third party test, Natural Pharmacuticals are, together with OmegaVeritas, setting a new international level of quality control for omega-­3 products containing salmon oil.”