Fishy taste that's hard to swallow

26-Mar-2008 - Last updated on 17-Mar-2017 at 01:17 GMT

People aren't eating anywhere near enough fish to meet their omega-3 needs. Sarah Britton looks at what food processors are doing to help

Seventy percent of Brits aren't eating enough fish, according to a recent survey of over 3,000 people carried out by supplement company Efamol. Fish are our only natural source of omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) - nutrients that have been proven to keep hearts healthy - so these statistics are certainly cause for concern. But food processors are doing their utmost to turn things around by fortifying foods with omega-3 and reinventing popular fish dishes using species rich in fatty acids.

A major focus for manufacturers is to ensure that the omega-3 that is in a product stays there until eaten when it is absorbed by the body. Bakery ingredients firm British Bakels explains that the biggest challenge when developing its Nutromega omega-3 ingredient was the clean label aspect of the process, which meant the firm couldn't use hydrogenated fat or emulsifiers to stabilise the fatty acid. Instead, it used non-hydrogenated palm oil. "Because Nutromega is a shortening it contains fat, so the omega-3 is effectively liquid fat locked up in a palm oil-based solid fat matrix," says head of product development Gary Gibbs.

He claims that Bakels chose this technique over microencapsulation because it could be sure that fat is digested and breaks down. "In encapsulated products, omega-3 cannot always be back-extracted," says Gibbs. By this, he means taking the enriched product, putting it in a food processor and extracting the omega-3 back out of it in order to prove that the nutrient will be absorbed by the body. "However, that's obviously a different process from the gut, so it's difficult to prove how well the ingredient is absorbed," he adds.

Omega-3 supplier Martek hasn't taken any chances in proving the absorption of its algae-sourced DHA. In one study, subjects were given 600mg capsules of Martek's DHA or asked to eat cooked salmon for two weeks. Blood DHA levels increased by 28% in the algal DHA group and 21% in the salmon group, indicating that Martek's DHA is absorbed by the body as easily as from natural food sources, claims the company. The firm also supplies DHA for the food industry.

Encouraging increased fish consumption is not a policy that fits well with globally depleted fish stocks, claims Martek. It adds that heavy metal contamination is another risk when using fish oils. "We have gone directly to the source and developed a process that extracts DHA from algae, the fish's original source. Life'sDHA is a highly purified algae form of DHA grown in fermentation tanks and therefore contains no ocean-borne contaminants," says the company.

Despite contamination risks, Bakels' recent consumer survey painted a very positive picture of fish oil-sourced omega-3. "The report was commissioned by us and compiled by Leatherhead Food International (LFI)," says Gibbs. "We asked over 1,000 consumers: 'Which type of foods would you purchase with omega-3 and would you consider bakery products with omega-3?'"

He claims that interest is "very promising". LFI says that omega-3 is crying out as an untapped area, claims Gibbs. "Bread still has a lot of potential as staples are the key products for enrichment. That said, I'd be surprised to see omega-3 fortification become mandatory as there are potential negatives for having too much omega-3," he says. "It thins the blood, which is how it helps to relieve pressure from around the heart, but haemophiliacs would have to be wary.

"It would be ideal if we could make the paste vegetarian - that's the big down side at the moment. We're keeping our eyes on the algae-sourced omega-3 DHA."

In contrast, Birds Eye has found going down the route of making fish products with naturally high levels of omega-3 very effective. Birds Eye brand manager Ian Crichton says: "In our research, we looked at different types of omega-3 health claims and people really liked the idea of a natural source of omega-3, but I'm not writing off fortification. We don't fortify anything at the moment, but we'd consider it if we thought it was something that consumers wanted."

Director of the Marketing Intelligence consultancy Jonathan Stannard believes the brand should do more to increase omega-3 consumption. "Kerry Ingredients has developed a crispy coating using omega-3. If I was in Birds Eye's position, I'd be putting this with my pollock fishfingers and giving kids a big dose of omega-3." He claims: "The big issue is the expense, but the more you do it, the cheaper it becomes. So eventually, these things will become more affordable."

Stannard has 20 years' experience working with omega-3 and has helped the likes of Marks & Spencer, Heinz and Müller to fortify their products. He is convinced that omega-3 fortification of food is the only way forward. "There will come a time when omega-3 will become mandatory in certain foods - I'd put my house on it!"

"The quantum leap for omega-3 will be when it goes into cereals," says Stannard. Cereal giants Kellogg and General Mills have both signed contracts with Martek, but although General Mills has launched DHA-fortified Yoplait Kids yoghurts, neither firm has a fortified cereal on UK shelves.

According to Stannard, crisp and biscuit manufacturers are also keen to get in on the act. "United Biscuits has been looking at omega-3 fortification. It was very excited at the prospect of moving its foods into a more positive light. And I have also spoken to a very large UK crisp company that was interested in turning what it jokingly referred to as 'the playground villain' into a positive health offering."

However, he explains that on a cost basis, fortifying crisps is very different to fortifying bread. "When I worked at Ocean Nutrition, 75mg of omega-3 cost a penny, which meant that a bag of omega-3 fortified crisps would have retailed for about 1.6p more than a standard pack. But, in other products, such as bread, which contain multiple servings, fortification is more expensive and I salute Allied Bakeries for putting a decent amount of omega-3 into their Head Start 50/50 bread."

For companies that have already launched successful omega-3 foods, Stannard is adamant that the next step is to begin cross-promotional activities in order to get across the message that people can get their recommended intake of 3g per week by consuming a balanced diet. "I have tried to get these companies to speak across categories, so that they can cross-promote products such as omega-3 pasta shapes or beans on omega-3 toast. I recently got an email from someone at Hovis enquiring about the possibility of working with Premier Foods' Branstein beans."

Birds Eye, though, is not quite sold on this approach: "The idea of cross-promotion has been discussed, but not at a progressed level because we wanted to focus on our own message. Though it's not something I'd dismiss in the future," says Crichton.

Instead, the company has given much of its attention to promoting pollock, which has a rich omega-3 content. Although research tells Birds Eye that consumers are not ready to see the fish species mentioned on front-of-pack, instead preferring an omega-3 label, there are signs that consumer understanding is growing. "Pollock is becoming more acceptable than it was a few years ago. It's creeping into consumer consciousness," says Crichton. He claims that people are keen to have pollock labelled on back-of-pack as opposed to the alternative of simply calling it 'white fish'.

"The last time we checked consumer acceptance was in September when consumers said 'no' to using 'white fish' on the label, claiming that it was the equivalent of having a meat curry in an Indian restaurant," he says.

While for Birds Eye, simply putting the term 'omega-3' on-pack is doing the job - its omega-3 pollock fishfingers have added 60% incremental sales to the fishfinger market - others are want to make specific health claims.

As well as its proven heart health benefits, there is growing evidence that omega-3 is linked to cognitive health. People who consume high levels of DHA omega-3 may have a reduced risk of developing certain neurological disorders, including dementia, claims Martek.

Martek is trying to advance certain article 13 DHA and DHA/EPA health relationships under the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation in the EU, including claims related to brain, heart, eye and nerve health, heart health claims and pregnancy and nursing.

"Due to the strong science supporting the brain, heart, eye and other health benefits of DHA omega-3, we believe that these claims will be confirmed through this process, allowing food companies manufacturing DHA-fortified foods to make broader and more meaningful claims in the future."

Clearly, omega-3 provides a big opportunity for the industry. As Stannard says: "It's called an 'essential' fatty acid for a reason - it is needed by every cell in our body! Food manufacturers need to wake up to the opportunities." FM

Key Contacts