In the quest for searching the best quality fish oil products most of us rely on known quality standards. Most popular one is IFOS, International Fish Oil Standard.
But have you ever given it a thought that what exactly is it? Who they are? How to they test? What are the parameters?
With the growing popularity of omega 3 more and more people are demanding these supplements and therefore more and more players are entering the market. With recent scientific studies reporting high contamination levels in sea water and hence in all marine by products it becomes all the more important that there should be one central agency that regulates the standards so that there is not room left for cheap or ineffective products.
IFOS is an international program that tests the omega 3 health supplements for various safety standards as mentioned by World Health Organization and Council for Responsible Nutrition so that these supplements are safe for human consumption.
This standard is different from ISO and Good Manufacturing Practices because both these standards concentrate more on the process where as International Fish Oil Standard focuses on the purity of end product. If a company follows an ISO 9001 process it means that the process to manufacture is well documented and followed every time. They do not deviate from the process but that does not guarantee best quality of the end product. It may be useful to a certain extent but it can no way tell you about the level of toxins present in the end product.
IFOS tests products on four parameters -
Concentration
This is a one to one comparison of level of DHA/EPA present in the product vs. as claimed on the label. If you examine the label of any fish oil you will see that presence of DHA is mentioned like 200mg per 1000mg. These tests make sure that manufacturer is not supplying misleading information to the customer. If the product is IFOS compliant then you can find the true levels mentioned in the product report.
Purity and Safety
This checks for the levels of harmful chemicals like Mercury, PCBs and Furans.According to CRN standards the level of Mercury and PCBs should be 90ppb and 100ppb (ppb = Parts Per Billion) respectively and as per WHO standard Furans should be 2ppt (Parts per Trillion). If you take a look at the safety report of the product you will come that if your product is actually following safety standards or not.
Stability
This tells about the oxidation levels of the fish oil gels. These are core chemistry related details; instead of getting into details let us just keep ourselves limited to understanding that the lower the oxidation the better it is for us.
Presence of Heavy Metals like Lead, Arsenic, Nickel etc.
All these are toxic chemicals that are very very harmful for human beings. If the level of these chemicals should be below the safety limit as suggested by WHO only then the fish oil is considered safe for human consumption.
Companies that produce omega 3 can enroll in this program and get their product tested for purity and freshness. The certificate from International Fish Oil Standard is a clear indication of credibility.
If you are looking for a healthy omega 3 supplement for your family then make sure that the products that you buy follow IFOS or a standard which is stricter than them. You can find all this information on the website of the company.
This is the easiest way to stay away from the cheap products and select the best and effective supplements that give long lasting results to you and your family. If you want to learn more about omega 3 supplements and there benefits; visit my <a target=”_blank” href=”http://omega3brief.com”>website</a> where I have listed them in detail.
Chuck Blake is an active researcher and consumer of fish oil products.Visit his website today to learn more about the powerful benefits of omega-3 fish oils. Article Source: