With the certification, Biotics Research Corporation can back their claim that its fish oil products use an anchovy source from the cold waters of the South Pacific Ocean off the South American coast. For the first time, this can be verified through a third-party test.
Proof of quality
“This is obviously of tremendous value for our customers who now can be certain they are getting the highest quality omega-3s available when they buy our fish oils,” says Denis De Luca, President, Biotics Research Corporation.
Paul Vitiello, marketing manager for the company, said the certification is fully in line with the company’s mission.
“We have been in practitioner channel now for 42 years. This is a family owned and operated company based south of Houston and we do all of our manufacturing there,” Vitiello told NutraIngredients-USA.
“I believe this proves that we are really looking for the best suppliers. Golden Omega really impressed us, and this certification did, too,” he said.
The fish oil supply industry is highly globalized. While most of the world’s servings of omega-3 fish oil comes from the anchovy fishery off the coasts of Peru and Chile, mackerel and sardine oils are on the market, too. And bulk fish oil can pass through a number of different hands before it ends up in a finished supplement. Who’s to say that shipment of Peruvian anchovy oil wasn’t topped off with something else?
Many lower cost fish oil brands list all three species on the label. For brands that want to trade on a sustainability message, being able to prove their raw materials comes from a sustainable source is a plus. The anchovy fishery is tightly regulated by the Peruvian government and is generally regarded to be well managed.
Sustainability message
“We knew we needed to step up our omega-3s game. Orivo and Golden Omega brought us in very early. They have developed a very nice technology to be able to fingerprint these oils,” Vitiello said.
“I believe that proving sustainability is really a big deal right now in the marketplace. For long term sustainability for fish oils I think this will be phenomenal,” he said.
“We can prove where our oils came from. For other products, you might have to guess if 50% of it came from the South Pacific and 50% came from Morocco,” Vitiello said.
Golden Omega was the first raw material supplier to go through the verification process with Orivo. The testing technology was initially developed by the Norwegian research organization SINTEF, and is based on NMR analysis, explained Orivo. It allows Orivo to verify marine species and region of origin via quality assured sampling protocols.
Orivo has verified that all the raw material involved in Golden Omega’s production is pure anchovy from the South Pacific Ocean. The authenticity will be continuously verified through raw material monitoring, added the company.
“The certification process has been a satisfying journey, particularly when working with a responsible and reputable company like Biotics Research Corporation. We have learned that Biotics Research is synonymous with innovative concepts, and the introduction of the Orivo authenticity certification is indeed innovative. We are, of course, very satisfied with the partnership, as should be the Biotics Research customers,” said Svein Erik Haugmo, CEO of Orivo.