Nothing "Fishy" About Omega-3s

Nothing "Fishy" about Omega-3s

By Jeanne Turner
Contributing Editor

According to Ben Franklin, “fish and visitors stink after three days.” While synonymous with good eating when fresh, fish that have lingered too long have inspired many less-than-flattering metaphors for unpleasant odors and experiences.

Any developer knows that a three-day shelf life won’t impress anyone, unless you’re discussing sushi. This fishing expedition to extend shelf-life is one that omega-3 suppliers have battled and brought to shore in recent years to market these highly oxidative ingredients in stable, usable and tasty forms.

Why the hubbub?

As early as 2000, the American Heart Association released dietary recommendations that urged consumers to eat two 3-oz. servings of fatty fish per week. In Sept. 2005, FDA announced a qualified health claim for reduced risk of coronary heart disease for conventional foods that contain eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) omega-3 fatty acids. There is no daily recommended value associated with this qualified health claim. However, FDA recommends that consumers “not exceed more than a total of 3 grams per day, with no more than 2 grams per day from a dietary supplement.”

Including omega-3 in foods is important not only because most Americans eat little to no fish at all, but also because more than half (52%) of consumers believe that foods can replace the use of drugs. Further, according to a functional-foods fact sheet published by the International Foods Information Council, Washington, D.C., in 2005: “The role of omega-3 fatty acids in growth and development, as well as in health and disease—particularly coronary heart disease—is currently one of the fastest-growing research areas in nutritional science. As a result, knowledge of these essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) has grown significantly.”

Adding these ingredients to a formulation could help companies keep pace with the competition, since food manufacturers appear to be snapping up omega-3 ingredients at an impressive pace. A 2005 Frost & Sullivan report estimates the omega-3 fatty-acid ingredient global market to be worth in excess of $700 million in U.S. dollars.

New studies continue to add to the body of evidence supporting positive human health benefits from this family of polyunsaturated fatty acids, including their effects on inflammation, blood pressure, depression and type 2 diabetes, to name a few.

Weighing the pros and cons

While a growing number of food sectors now include omega-3 fatty-acid food fortification—such as baked goods, dairy products, spreads, margarines, sports products, nutrition bars and infant formulas—formulators can encounter functional and cost-related challenges related to these volatile substances.

One hurdle is that while consumers are aware of the health benefits associated with the general category, they don’t yet truly recognize the difference between the short-chain fatty acids and the long-chain variety of polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The long-chain (EPA) and (DHA) ingredients can be expensive additions to a formulation, and processors weigh in the balance of the value of the ingredient included versus the price a consumer is willing to pay. Add to this the highly oxidative nature of this family of ingredients and you’ve got a fine kettle of fish.

A matter of ratios

Typically, cold-water fish such as sardines, salmon, lake trout and tuna contain EPA (20:5) and DHA (22:6) omega-3 fatty acids. The short-chain omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) (18:3) stems from plant sources such as flax seed.

The average American consumes approximately 1.6 grams per day of omega-3 fatty acids, with DHA and EPA comprising 0.1 to 0.2 grams per day of total omega-3 consumption. Recommendations suggest this EPA/DHA consumption should be increased to more than four times that amount, to a minimum of 0.65 grams per day. (Oklahoma State University Food Technology Fact Sheet, by Nurhan Dunford, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, FAPC-135.)

The general profile of cold-water fish indicates they contain an average of seven times as much omega-3 as omega-6 fatty acids. Flax, or linseed as it is sometimes called, is a very good source of ALA, with a content of approximately 55% ALA in the oil. Flax contains approximately three times as much omega-3 as omega-6 fatty acids.

Organic milk and organic cheese provide good sources of ALA omega-3 with a ratio of 1-to-1 with omega-6. The Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER), Aberystwyth, Wales, has found that organic milk has at least 64% more omega-3 essential fatty acids than conventional milk. Half a pint of milk provides 10% of the recommended daily intake of omega-3, while a “matchbox sized piece of organic cheese will give you up to 88%,” according to a BBC News article February 23, 2004, “More Fatty Acids in Organic Milk.”

By land or by sea

Both zoochemical and phytochemical sources of omega-3 exist, with the largest suppliers producing it from a list that includes fish and fish byproducts; microalgae bred specifically for this purpose; flax seed or other plant sources; or genetically modified soybeans.

Ocean Nutrition Canada, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, offers Meg-3®, an EPA/DHA-balanced omega-3 in a microencapsulated form. The company says this form guarantees stability in a wide range of processing conditions. According to Ian Lucas, vice president marketing and new product development, the company strives to create value for human nutrition from sea byproducts not currently being utilized for food purposes. “The owners’ vision is to look at the marine environment as you would the tropical rainforest—as an untapped reservoir of potential human nutrition that could also help a variety of different health conditions,” he says.

Following a business trend to experiment with new technologies cross-industry, Ocean Nutrition Canada uses a globally patented, specialized technology called coacervation to microencapsulate its fish oil. The term is borrowed from colloid chemistry to describe the basic process of capsule wall formation. This type of microencapsulation, according to Lucas, virtually eliminates free oil particles outside the microcapsule, greatly reducing the chance of developing oxidative off-flavors or odors. A cross-section of one bead of microencapsulated ingredient shows an interior that mimics the inside of an aerated candy bar, with a series of mini-microcaps within an outer shell.

Available as a free-flowing powder, this microencapsulated omega-3 can withstand the high-temperature baking and high-pressure kneading of baked goods such as bread and rolls. The capsules can survive pasteurization as a component of dairy products and are suitable for inclusion in confectionery goods, including hot-processed chews. A success story is the ingredient’s inclusion in orange juice recently marketed in the United Kingdom. “That alone is unbelievable,” says Lucas. “Nobody thought we could put it into an acid environment.”

Arista Industries, Inc., Wilton, CT, supplies fish oil to customers from seafood or tuna sources. “We can put tuna oil in powdered form. Those are higher in DHA, while the regular fish oils are higher in EPA,” says Mary Ann Siciliano, national sales manager. “Our biggest focus would be our powdered oil. We load it with a maltodextrin base, but we can use any type of powder the customer prefers, such as whey or a protein- based powder, if the customer doesn’t want to use maltodextrin.” She says that before the end of the year, the company is introducing a virtually odorless fish powder with an 18-month shelf life.

Martek Biosciences, Columbia, MD, grows microalgae in an isolated system through a specialized fermentation process. The company claims this ensures the total absence of any possible contaminants in its product, which contains a minimum of 35% DHA. According to Martek, DHA is the fatty acid with the greatest nutritional value for nursing mothers and infants. Mique DeJong, director of marketing, food and beverages, says, “In the case of fish-oil-based omega-3 ingredients, the ratio of EPA to DHA will vary depending on the species of fish and where and when it was caught.”

Martek indicates that 90% of food applications utilize the oil version of its omega-3 ingredient; however, it does supply an encapsulated version. The product works in oil-based systems, high temperatures and pressures, high-shear processing and extrusion manufacturing. Initially popular in infant formula, the product’s scope is widening. “There isn’t one food product we’re specializing in,” said DeJong. “From beverages to solid foods to snacks, we’re working with food producers to help them maintain their existing foods’ texture and taste while adding the benefits of DHA.”

In terms of omega-3 inclusion in formulation, clear, low-solids-content beverages and fortified waters would be the most difficult challenges. Ruben Abril, Ph.D., director of product development for Martek, says: “Once you start getting into cloudy juices, then a microemulsion or homogenization helps. Juices and dairy products can easily incorporate our ingredients without many stabilizers.” The company has its sights set on including omega-3 in children’s snack foods or finger-friendly foods, such as chicken nuggets, to continue supplying DHA to young, developing minds.

According to Nurhan Dunford, oilseed chemist at the Food and Agricultural Products Research and Technology Center, Oklahoma State University. “Including omega-3 in meat products is a big trend right now. Europe is actually ahead of the United States in this area, including it in meat patties and other processed meats.”

Dunford says a formulator would have to stabilize the omega-3 in an emulsion prior to adding it to a prepared mix. With chicken nuggets, she says, the bread coating would add at least one protective layer to help prevent oxidation. However, she adds, “This area is so new, there is very little technological data to indicate what happens to the oils when the product is deep-fried or stored for long periods.”

Doin’ omegas with dairy

From a difficulty standpoint, ingredient manufacturers claim dairy is a highly compatible environment for some omega-3 inclusion. In fact, Siciliano says Arista’s customers primarily use the omega-3 ingredients in dairy products, such as yogurt, and bakery items, such as bread. Both products have relatively short shelf lives, minimizing time’s influence on the unsaturated fatty acids. Dairy products’ refrigeration requirements can also be a plus. Martek references Simbi, a drinkable yogurt product produced by Priegola, Madrid, Spain, as an example. Managing director Hans Peter Sieber of Priegola says, “We selected Martek DHA because it provides us with a concentrated form of DHA from a vegetarian source that does not adversely affect the flavor of our yogurt.” The yogurt contains 100 mg of DHA per serving (250 grams).

Martek DHA also is featured in the new Odwalla Soymilk, the first soymilk in the United States to contain omega-3 DHA. The drink contains 32 mg of vegetarian source DHA per 8 fl. oz. serving.

Ocean Nutrition Canada has several firms globally that utilize their brand of omega-3 in dairy products. The latest new product introduction is Cardivia® yogurt from Danone Canada, Inc., Boucherville, Quebec. According to Manon Cormier, dietitian for Danone Canada, Inc., “One of the main reasons we launched Cardivia® enriched with omega-3 is to help those concerned with cardiovascular health.”

To make a health claim based on a source of omega-3 in Canada, a company must include 300 mg per serving in a product. “We had to ensure the product has good palatability and mouthfeel, and, over the course of a two-year development process, we eventually created a formula that supplies 300 mg of omega-3 from a mixture of fish oil and flax seed oil, of which 62 mg of DHA/EPA comes from the fish,” says Cormier. “DHA/EPA play an important role in cardiovascular health. We were trying to maximize the fish oil as much as possible, while working within a small product format, to enrich and yet balance it so the consumer would not taste or feel any difference,” Cormier continues.

The company had to balance quite a few aspects of the formulation to achieve this end; in addition to the omega-3 claim, the product contains zero percent milk-fat and is sweetened with sucralose to provide only 60 calories per 100-gram serving. Available in vanilla, strawberry, raspberry-cranberry and peach mango, every flavor, says Cormier, “is designed to add to the whole concept as one of health.”

Then, in mid-February, Danone launched children’s yogurt, Danino, enriched with DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid that contributes to the normal development of the brain, eyes and nerves. Cormier says this yogurt line used a fish source for the DHA. Although Cardivia entered the marketplace in mid-December 2005, by mid- February the company already was reporting “favorable results.”

In January, Stonyfield Farm, Londonderry, NH, introduced the “world’s first baby yogurt with DHA.” YoBaby Plus Fruit & Cereal contains 17 mg of DHA per 100 calories. The company says it included this amount to mimic the quantity found in breast milk.

Fish-derived omega-3 ingredients can work in dairy products as well. The Woodstock Water Buffalo Company, South Woodstock, VT, held the distinction of being the first U.S.-based firm to introduce a yogurt containing Meg-3 brand omega-3 EPA/DHA ingredients. Each serving contains 100 mg of the omega-3 ingredient and is made from farm-fresh water buffalo milk and high levels of live probiotic cultures.

Grains of life

Several different bakeries have joined in, with three U.S. bakeries introducing bread products containing Meg- 3 ingredients in 2005. Wegman’s Food Markets, Inc., Rochester, NY, introduced three breads. In February of that same year, The Baker™, Milford, NJ, launched a healthy whole-grain bread containing the same, and in April 2005, Arnold Foods Co., Bayshore, NY, launched Arnold® Smart & Healthy™ 100% whole wheat bread containing an omega-3 fish oil ingredient.

There is more good news for bakery formulators and consumers: Researchers at University of Guelph, Ontario, have found that dried fish powder baked into bread is absorbed by the body as effectively as fish oil supplements.

Phytochemical potential

Formulators who want to work with ALA can look to grain-based sources. Bioriginal Food & Science Corp, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, produces stable, organic, omega-3-rich flax flour called BakOmega™, which contains 5.5 grams of ALA per 100 grams flour. In baked goods, the company claims, the flour helps improve functionality and offers stability and great taste. The flour is also a good source of fiber, protein, lignans and other vitamins and minerals.

Looking to the future, Monsanto Company, St. Louis, achieved a breakthrough in 2003 by dramatically increasing omega-3 content in soybean oil by increasing the stearidonic-acid content. The company says soybeans offer a potential alternative to fish as an omega-3 source that offers neutral taste, cost-effective production and abundant supply.

Through genetic modification, Monsanto is adding traits across plant or bacteria species. The omega-3 enriched soybeans, for example, likely will contain traits from other plants that are good sources of naturally occurring omega-3, such as algae, fungi or other sources eaten by fish.

David Stark, vice president of consumer traits for the company, says the modified soybeans should be available as an ingredient in oil form for formulators early in the next decade. The type of omega-3 the company is incorporating into soybeans, stearidonic acid, is a short-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid that acts more like EPA in the human body, according to Stark. The advantage to looking at this short-chain omega-3, which contains 18 carbon atoms and is designatated 18:4 (n-3), he says, is the theory that the oil will provide greater stability.

In terms of the FDA claim, “we will need to show the FDA that this omega-3 performs in such a way that it falls within the range of the allowed health claim,” Stark notes.

The secret lives of Chia Pets

The Salba Group of Companies, Toronto, Canada, is developing an omega-3 ingredient based on the seeds from a variety of mint called Chia. President Larry Brown says the company’s product, called Salba™, “is the richest whole food source of omega-3 in the world.” According to the company, two tablespoons of the ingredient provide 3.05 mg of omega-3 and 5.18 mg of dietary fiber, in addition to six times the calcium of milk.

A tortilla chip manufacturer in Denver is developing a 95% organic corn product that contains 5% of the chia-seed ingredient, which would supply 400 mg of omega-3 from one ounce, or 15 chips. One of the major barriers to including this ingredient in food formulations, the manufacturer claims, is the color of the seeds, which are black. The company has since cultivated a strain of white chia seeds to blend in more easily with various formulations.

The ALA controversy

Most experts maintain that ALA, while providing some health benefits, doesn’t fall into the same category as an EPA/DHA combination when it comes to a weight-for-weight conversion in the body. Joyce Nettleton, D.Sc, R.D., independent nutritionist and consultant, and editor of the “PUFA Newsletter,” says that flax seed or foods that contain ALA contain the 18-carbon precursor to those long-chain fatty acids.

“ALA itself has some cardio-protective qualities, but in general they are not as strong as those from the long-chain fatty acids,” says Nettleton. “The real kicker, in my view, is, because humans convert ALA so poorly, the benefits to pregnant women and children are minimal. And because this group needs DHA, which is so critical to development, you can eat all the flax you can possibly swallow and very little will be converted. Most of ALA—about 80%—is oxidized, burnt for energy, and the rest does everything possible except go into the long-chain pathway.”

“A big difference between flax and fish is that consumers don’t realize it is virtually impossible for a food company to put a meaningful amount of ALA in a food product because the body converts so little of it, 5% at most,” Lucas says. “Consumers think they’re getting the health benefits and all they’re really getting is calories.”

Based on a study they commissioned in 2005, Nutrinova, Frankfurt, Germany, manufacturer of a vegetarian source of DHA, suggests that vegetarians are unlikely to gain a sufficient level of omega-3s from a non-fish diet.

In a double-blind, randomized, intervention study, the researchers gave 104 healthy vegetarians a DHA supplement or an olive-oil placebo for eight weeks. Although most of the participants reached recommended intakes for essential fatty acids, such as ALA, none of them reached a recommended omega-3 index of at least 8%. However, at the end of the study, the omega-3 index increased significantly in the supplement group, with 69% of these subjects reaching an omega-3 index above 8%.

“This suggests that the in vivo conversion of ALA (as available from plant sources such as flax) to EPA and DHA is not adequate to reach a desirable EPA and DHA status,” says the company. Stonyfield Farm chose a fish source for its DHA ingredient to include in its new yogurt targeting the younger crowd. The company specifically states on its website that it uses an encapsulated form of fish oil sourced from anchovies and sardines caught off the coast of Peru.

The company asks and answers this question for consumers: “Why did we look to fish sources for our DHA? Seafood is the richest source of DHA. Though it is also found in walnuts, flax and canola oil, humans aren’t very good at converting the oil from those sources into the DHA your body needs.”

Some studies do show a higher conversion rate. A paper published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2002 showed that in one study of healthy women, over a period of 21 days, conversion rates can be as high as 36%. The authors also suggested that women may have higher conversion of ALA during pregnancy, due to higher fetal requirements.

Flax seed, walnuts and other whole-food sources can utilize the content claim on their label, because FDA does not distinguish between types of omega-3. And, for many consumers, walnuts and flax seed help form the basis for a more healthy diet. The Walnut Marketing Board (WMB), for example, states that just 1 oz. of walnuts, or one handful, contains 2.5 grams of omega-3s. This more than satisfies the recommendation by the Food Nutrition Board of the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine that women consume 1.1 grams per day of ALA. Further, WMB states that “leading experts claim the omega-3 content in foods like walnuts, although different than the omega-3s found in fish oil, still are beneficial to the human body.”

A Nov. 2004 study conducted at Pennsylvania State University, published in the Journal of Nutrition, showed that eating walnuts can significantly reduce C-reactive protein and harmful plaque-adhesion molecules, two significant markers of inflammation in arteries.

In addition, a handful of walnuts, when eaten daily, can play a significant role in reducing the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol, reducing inflammation and improving arterial function. A recent study conducted in Australia also shows that, for patients with type 2 diabetes, a diet including walnuts can reduce LDL “bad” cholesterol by as much as 10% while helping reduce insulin resistance.

Flax seed is a rich source of both soluble and insoluble fiber, typically lacking in the Western diet. And flax seed also is the richest plant source of lignans, up to 550 to 800 times greater than in other lignan-containing foods.

Walnuts and flax seed add flavor and are easy to include in baked goods, for example. These ingredients do not detract from clean label claims and can add to visual and taste appeal, rather than posing a dilemma that might involve masking agents.

All about flavor

Taste remains the largest obstacle for food manufacturers packing their products with increasing levels of omega-3 oils. Oxidation deteriorates flavor, increases the risk of rancidity and drastically reduces shelf life. One study of omega-3 fatty acids in mayonnaise showed that low pH combined with high iron content (found in the egg yolks) accelerated oxidation and reduced the shelf life. Presence of copper and peroxides in foods can also cause a problem with oxidation.

It is a conundrum that the gas essential to life is also a killer for some food products. Oxidation, which can be caused by exposure to air, is the factor that breaks down the original chemical composition and creates off flavors and aromas. Light and moisture can also adversely affect formulations that utilize omega-3s, and food processors need to pay particular attention to the packaging chosen for such a product.

Oxidation of omega 3s can also be controlled by pH adjustment in emulsions, or by creating low-viscosity emulsions for ease of handling and incorporation into water-based foods. The addition of mixed tocopherols, or antioxidants, can help with oxidative stability in formulations such as frozen food entrées, soups, refrigerated foods, salad dressings, yogurts, spreads, juices, egg products and cheeses.

Lipid love

According to Nettleton, Gold Circle Farms, a division of Hidden Villa Ranch, Fullerton, CA, was one of the first companies to develop eggs containing omega-3 fatty acids by feeding hens a diet that contained cold-water microalgae. The product label distinctly states that the eggs contain certain levels of DHA. Hens fed a diet containing flax seed also convert ALA to EPA and DHA more efficiently than mammals do, so a diet containing flax will boost the level not only of DHA, but also create a higher EPA and ALA content in the finished product: the egg.

“Different companies may or may not make a distinction between long-chain and short-chain omega-3s,” says Nettleton. “But the ones that say they contain DHA have to have some in them.”

Nettleton believes that eggs, dairy products and other lipid-based products provide the most natural—and perhaps the easiest—vehicles for fish oil to deliver long-chain fatty acids.

“The people who make Smart Balance® margarines or spreads also have produced a product that includes long-chain fatty acids and ALA,” says Nettleton. “When the fish oil is going into another lipid environment, it is a more natural fit, perhaps, than other forms of formulation that need to include masking agents. Also, the formulators already are dealing with antioxidant issues, so they can perhaps better incorporate such an oxidative ingredient into their environment.”

As for the other omega-3-containing food products mentioned in this article, says Nettleton, “I think we’re seeing much greater creativity. The initial products are those that are going to have long shelf stability where any real or imagined flavor problems will be masked by other, more interesting flavors, and the quality of the product or ingredients the manufacturer chooses to use are high.

“It is heartening to see they are a little more abundant in real foods,” she continues. “With all of the barriers to people choosing a certain kind of food, you cannot overemphasize the importance of diversity of food containing long-chain form fatty acids.”

Lucas agrees: “Rather than take supplements or eat fish, which many consumers avoid, they can drink a glass of orange juice and have some eggs and eat 100 mg (of long-chain omega-3 PUFAs). Have a bagel and add another 50, or a tortilla wrap with lunch and it adds up, conveniently, without the smell or taste of fish,” he says. “When formulators add omega-3 to foods, then consumers can eat the food they like every day, without any change in flavor or texture, yet they’re eating a more nutritionally dense food, adding in the nutrition they were lacking “

Someday, a new Benjamin Franklin might coin the saying: “Have your cake and eat fish too.”

Jeanne Turner is a Chicago-based freelance writer with more than 10 years of experience writing about the functional properties of food ingredients.