The company says the product is not only unique because of its high absorption rate, but also because it is a powder that allows the fatty acids EPA and DHA to be added to any functional food.
"You can't add fish oil to a bar," Europharma president Terry Lemerond told NutraIngredients-USA.com, "But this (powder) can be added to anything - a bar, a yoghurt, salad dressing or ketchup."
Omega-3 has become increasingly popular as a supplement and functional food ingredient due to the growing body of evidence that points to its benefits. The omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids EPA and DHA are found primarily in oil from oily fish and have been found to reduce the risk of heart disease, improve arthritis symptoms and have cognitive development and antioxidant benefits.
However, Lemerond said much of the goodness is lost in fish oils currently on the market because they are very "refined, distilled and deodorized" by means of extraction processes that use high temperatures, solvents and chemical modifications.
"Vectomega is the only one that is extracted from the fish in a natural process," said Lemerond.
The patented method uses a cold water and enzyme process to extract oil from Atlantic salmon. As such, marine phospholipids are kept intact in Vectomega and allow for greater absorption of DHA and EPA, says the company. Phospholipids are like "the vehicle" that transport DHA and EPA into cells, explained Lemerdon.
And because of its high rate of absorbtion, Vectomega will be cheaper as an omega-3 ingredient than fish oils currently on the markent, according to Lemerdon. Two tablets (600 mg) of Vectomega are equal to 16 capsules (7,200 mg) of standard fish oil, say the company.
Only recently launched in Europe, Vectomega was researched for ten years by French company Laboratoires Le Stum.