Dr. Weil takes ONC's Meg-3 on board

Weil Mood Support Formula and Weil Cardio Support Formula will now contain Meg-3, said to be rich in EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).

The Canadian company's branded ingredient has been increasingly rolling out in mainstream functional food products, as such the current deal represents a step in a new direction.

The Oprah of so-called alternative medicine in the US, Dr. Andrew Weil has published numerous books on living a balanced and healthy lifestyle in order to prevent disease.

He also runs a wellness clinic and has a health products line.

"We decided to switch to the Meg-3 EPA/DHA fish oil because Ocean Nutrition offers high quality, molecularly distilled fish oil that is stringently tested for heavy metals (such as mercury and lead) and other contaminates (including PCBs)," said Weil.

The mood and cardio support formulas form part of the emerging trend for dietary supplement formulators to target specific conditions by grouping scientifically-backed ingredients under one umbrella.

As for Ocean Nutrition, it looks set to dole out more omega-3 ingredients in the future, as it recently announced a deal that will increase its capacity for the manufacture of high concentrate omega-3 oil by over 50 percent and its standard 18:12 fish oil by over 200 percent.

The Nova Scotia-based company signed a joint venture with Peruvian edible oil and food manufacturer, Alicorp S.A.A. Thanks to its patented Powder-loc micro-encapsulation technology, the Ocean Nutrition has been adding its Meg-3 omega-3 powders to a wider range of mainstream food products through numerous agreements with processors.

Recently, the company announced agreements for use of its omega-3 ingredients in food and beverage products manufactured by companies such as Danone, Minute Maid and Tropicana.

Ocean Nutrition said it has been carrying out technology transfers to Alicorp for the past two years in preparation for this increase in its production capacity.