Fish oil production does not just provide one type of end product. In fact,
there are also other grades of fish oil being produced. The three types of
fish oil produced today depend on their level of quality.
Cod Liver Oil
Cod liver oil, despite its popularity as a nutritional supplement, is
considered as a low quality grade of fish oil. It may only be used in small
amounts as an ideal supplement since this form of fish oil may contain
certain contaminants. Cod liver oil is also known to contain high levels of
vitamin A which can be toxic to humans in large doses.
One teaspoon of cod liver oil contains 500 mg of long chain omega 3 fatty
acids. Cod liver oil contains the highest levels of contaminants which may
include DDT, PCB’s as well as organic mercury. Taking this type of fish oil
may not be safe in large quantities.
Health Food Fish Oil
Better quality grade fish oil is one that is sourced from a particular
species of fish such as salmon. Most of these health food grade fish oil
are usually available in soft gel capsules because they still carry with
them a very poor taste profile. There is also a cholesterol free version of
this type of fish oil grade.
This type of health food grade fish oil undergoes a slightly more
purification process by means of limited molecular distillation in order to
remove some of its cholesterol content in order to label it as cholesterol
free. An even purified version of this health food grade version of fish
oil is known as fish oil concentrate. This is the type of fish oil
consisting of ethyl esters of the fish oil that undergoes fractional
cooling. This allows a more purified form of fish oil with lesser amounts
of contaminants that cod liver oil.
Generally, this type of fish oil contains a better concentration of omega 3
fatty acids. A single one gram capsule contains about 300 mg of omega 3
fatty acids. One capsule of a thermally fractionated health food grade can
contain as much as 500 mg of long chain omega 3 fatty acids.
Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil
Pharmaceutical grade fish oils have been ultra refined in order to provide
the highest quality of fish oil. This grade of fish oil undergoes through
certain specialized processes in order to come up with the most refined
fish oil. Certain specialized equipment is usually used in order to detect
the minutest amount of contaminants in the fish oil. Because it is ultra
refined, it is thousand times purer than the molecular distilled health
food grade fish oils.
An ultra refined pharmaceutical grade fish oil contains more omega 3 fatty
acids than the previous two fish oil grades. A one gram of this type of
fish oil contains around 600 mg of long chain omega 3 fatty acids. And for
being the most refined of the three grades of fish oil, it contains the
smallest amount of contaminants.
