Omega-3 EFAs: The Right Stuff
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On May 16, 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sotto
voce allowed a petition to permit food manufacturers to make nutrient
content claims for omega-3s in food products to become law. This put
FDA¡¯s imprimatur on a macronutrients report from the Institute of
Medicine (IOM, a subdivision of the National Academy of Sciences) that
determined omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) were not only essential
nutritionally but also seriously deficient in the average American diet.
Actually, ¡°deficient¡± is misleading. It isn¡¯t the nominal content of
omega-3s consumed that is deficient as much as the ratio of omega-3s to
omega- 6 EFAs consumed. Simply put, Americans need more omega-3s and
less omega-6s in their diet.
The ruling establishes Daily Value (DV) requirements for both
shortchain and long-chain omega-3 oils and provides criteria by which
foods can be deemed to be ¡°good¡± or ¡°high, rich or excellent¡± sources of
omega-3s. This development may be especially opportune for food product
categories hammered by recent low net carb trends if manufacturers use
it to reclaim the nutritional high ground. However, food and nutritional
products manufacturers must now find effective ways of introducing
omega-3 EFAs into products without compromising shelf life, taste and
texture.
Omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs play at least two key roles in human
physiology. One role is structural; essential lipids serve as critical
structural components in cell membranes and tissues. These roles are
recognized but as of yet poorly delineated. The second role is as
precursors for prostaglandins, whereby omega-3-generated prostaglandins
exhibit an agonist/protagonist relationship with omega-6-generated
prostaglandins to control important physiological functions (e.g., blood
clotting). It is for this reason that the ratio of dietary omega-3 to
dietary omega-6 is critical¡ªchronic over-consumption of omega-6s in
relation to omega-3s leads to prostaglandin imbalances that translate
into chronic physiological disorders common in our society. The general
consensus is that there exists about a 2-to-1 imbalance of omega-6s to
omega-3s in the average American diet. The challenge is therefore to
increase omega-3 consumption without concomitantly increasing omega-6s.
This limits naturally available solutions to those offering an excess of
omega-3s to omega-6s, essentially: certain algae, fish, fish oil,
flaxseed oil and wholemilled flaxseed.
As the IOM report affirms, both short-chain (alpha-linolenic acid or
ALA) and long-chain omega-3s (eicosapentaenoic acid or EPA, and
docosahexaenoic acid or DHA) are nutritionally essential. Humans can
convert a limited amount of ALA (between 5 percent and 10 percent) into
EPA or DHA. Consequently, FDA guidelines recognize a higher level of ALA
consumption is required to meet dietary omega-3 requirements.
Conversely, FDA has not recommended caps for ALA consumption as it
has for EPA or DHA in replies to manufacturer inquiries.
Because of their highly unsaturated nature, omega-3s are very
susceptible to oxidation. When oxidized, fish oil smells ¡°fishy¡± and
flaxseed oil smells ¡°painty¡±. The challenge is to protect the oil from
oxidizing in the product over the product¡¯s expected shelf-life and
preparation conditions.
Fish oils and flaxseed oil can be
pre-emulsified, admixed with antioxidant blends or mixed into liposome
suspensions to both protect the oils and to ensure their easy
incorporation and dispersion into fluids. For supplement or low-moisture
applications, they can be encapsulated. However, all these steps are
cost-enhancing and applications-limited. From this perspective,
whole-milled flaxseed flour (20 percent ALA omega-3) offers distinct
advantages in that it provides a relatively economical, whole-food
source material naturally encapsulated within its own natural,
antioxidantrich grain matrix. Pleasant tasting, it incorporates directly
into supplements, nutritional products and foods. Properly milled and
handled to protect its natural antioxidant barrier, it stores
indefinitely under ambient conditions. Using FDA¡¯s omega-3 Nutrient
Content claim guidelines, only 1.5 g of whole-milled flaxseed per
serving is required to qualify a product as a ¡°high, rich or excellent¡±
source of omega-3 oils. This includes liquids: fine-milled to a 30-mesh
or 40-mesh granulation, whole-milled flaxseed forms soft-textured
suspensions in juices, soy milk or other beverages that undergo
homogenization and pasteurization at levels that will qualify such
beverages as rich sources of omega-3s.
In sum, new FDA Nutrient Content claims have opened new vistas of
nutritional product opportunities to foods and nutritional products
manufacturers. Between fish oils, flaxseed oil and whole-milled flaxseed
powders, manufacturers enjoy many options to take full advantage of this
opportunity to the benefit of public health and well-being.