Is Your Fish Oil Product Safe?

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Wednesday, March 3, 2010 (SF Chronicle)
Lawsuit says fish oil supplements contain PCB Erin Allday, Chronicle Staff Writer
   An environmental group filed a lawsuit in San Francisco on Tuesday alleging that 10 types of fish oil or shark oil supplements contain a toxic industrial compound, and that manufacturers and sellers need to warn
consumers.
   The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court by the Oregon group Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation and two individuals, claims that under California's Proposition 65, the makers and sellers of fish oil supplements are required to tell consumers that the pills contain the compound polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB.
   Fish oil has become an increasingly popular supplement because it has high levels of healthy omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D.
   More than 100 brands of fish oil are available. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit tested 10 products, all of which had some amount of PCB, they say.  They found wide ranges in PCB levels, but because scientists haven't
agreed on a safe level of consumption, consumers should be made aware of potentially toxic compounds in their supplements no matter what the amount, said David Roe, attorney for the plaintiffs.
   "People buy fish oil to improve their health," Roe said Tuesday in a teleconference with reporters. "We have no way of knowing if all of the other fish oil products have PCB, too."
   The lawsuit names CVS/Pharmacy, General Nutrition Corp. (GNC stores), Now Health Group, Omega Protein, Rite Aid, Solgar, Twinlab and Pharmavite, which produces Nature Made supplements, as defendants.
   Representative of those companies said they wouldn't comment because they hadn't seen the lawsuit.
   PCBs were once used to insulate transformers and capacitors, but were banned more than 30 years ago. They are still found in San Francisco Bay and other waterways, where they are consumed by fish.
   Most people don't eat enough fish to risk serious exposure to PCBs, Roe said, but because people generally take fish oil supplements every day, they can potentially consume harmful levels of the chemical.
   PCBs can cause cancer, reproductive problems and damage to the nervous system, environmental scientists have said. A list of products named in the PCB lawsuit. C4   Fish oil
  The products named in the PCB lawsuit are:
  -- GNC Liquid Norwegian Cod Liver Oil
  -- Nature Made Cod Liver Oil
  -- Nature Made Odorless Fish Oil
  -- Now Foods Double Strength Cod Liver Oil
  -- Now Foods Salmon Oil
  -- Now Foods Shark Liver Oil
  -- Solgar 100 percent pure Norwegian Shark Liver Oil Complex
  -- Solgar Norwegian Cod Liver Oil
  -- Twinlab Emulsified Norwegian Cod Liver Oil
  -- Twinlab Norwegian Cod Liver Oil


Copyright 2010 SF Chronicle=

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Subject: FROM Cindy Latham Fw: [Team 21] Omega3's - Why Shaklee is the Best!

From: Cindy@cnc.net ; Latham@cnc.net (Works for Shaklee)

To: Team21@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 8:10 AM

Subject: [Team 21] Omega3's - Why Shaklee is the Best!

I can't end the week, without commenting about Omega3 in the news. There was a lawsuit filed against a number of brands (not Shaklee) that raised some concerns, brands that used cod liver oil. There are NO safety issues Shaklee's OmegaGuard #20244  We use pharmaceutical grade fish oil, we use a molecular distillation process to remove contaminants like dioxins, mercury and PCB's. Here's the rest of the scoop.
Shaklee's fish oil comes from highly purified whole fish --not from the liver of cod or shark (which the brands in the lawsuit used) which tend to accumulate these harmful compounds. Shaklee helped create a monograph to establish the standard for quality and purity, including defining the ...limits for contaminants including dioxin, PCB's, lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium. Yeah !!

Cindy Latham with Shaklee

Always Look for Verifcation of What You Read in the Media.

I want to share an response of researcher, Dr. Stephen Chaney.  I contend that Good Health relies on Good Choices and Good Health requires choices that take work.  Beware the quick, easy fix.

I came across an interesting article in NUTRA Ingredients-USA.com (November 27, 2012 edition) the other day.

You've probably seen the Sensa ads. You just shake these "magic" crystals on your food and the  pounds melt away. And, by the way, it's not salads they are shaking the crystals on. It's pizza,  hamburgers, French fries and the like.

The "magic" crystals are made from maltodextrin (a carbohydrate derived from starch), tricalcium phosphate, natural and artificial flavors, soy and milk ingredients. The manufacturer claims that these
crystals suppress appetite and lead to weight loss.

Supposedly, these claims are supported by two clinical studies showing, for example, that people sing the Sensa crystals lost an average of 30 pounds over six months while the control group only lost two.

Now if you think these claims sound too good to be true, you aren't alone. California District  attorneys filed a false advertising lawsuit against the manufacturer of Sensa crystals, and last week the manufacturer agreed to settle and pay $800,000 in civil penalties and $105,000 in restitution to California consumers.

According to NUTRA-Ingredients-USA-com, it turns out that neither of the clinical studies was good enough to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. And, the lead researcher for one of the studies admitted in a deposition that she had no scientific training and was not qualified to conduct a nutrition intervention study.

So another great sounding ad bites the dust. There is no magic formula or magic ingredient that will just make the pounds melt away. The physiological equation has not changed. Weight loss occurs when calories out exceed calories in. And permanent weight loss requires lifestyle changes.

The weight loss industry is rife with grandiose claims and hype. Just remember the old saying if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.


To Your Health!
Dr. Stephen G Chaney

Healthy Food Choices for Kids

I believe it's all about training, limiting unhealthy options, and being ready with a variety of healthy choices for your kids, especially during snack time.  

Read about 10 Ways to improve your family's eating habits.

My kids often have sliced cucumbers or red peppers for their bedtime snack.  How many American kids can say that? Or adult for that matter?

Your level of health really boils down to the choices you make.