Hello heart Hello brain

Ask the average consumer whether he knows his dairy peptides from his bifidobacteria, and you'll probably draw a blank stare. Ask him if he's heard of omega-3 and chances are, you'll get a more favourable response.

Indeed, such is the interest in this particular wonder ingredient - claimed to help tackle everything from heart disease to arthritis, psoriasis, depression, dementia and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), that the debate over the merits of competing sources (fish, plants, algae) has now made it into the mainstream, with manufacturers increasingly competing to provide products containing "omega-3 in its most effective form"

As to precisely what this is, and how best to get it into the diet, there is still no real consensus.

Arguably, the best sources of omega-3 are oily fish, which contain the most beneficial long-chain PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids): EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid); and algae, which is rich in DHA - and vegetarian.

The other primary source is plants such as linseed and flax that contain ALA (alpha-linolenic acid). However, humans are not very good at converting this into more beneficial EPA and DHA, a message many suppliers of fish and algal sources of omega-3 feel is not sufficiently understood by the consumer.

The fourth, most controversial, source is plants engineered with genes from micro-algae or fungus enabling them to make the coveted long-chain PUFAs. These are not available yet, although there is some serious cash behind the research. DuPont is field-testing a soybean it claims has a long-chain omega-3 content of 40%, while BASF and researchers on the European Lipgene project have been developing a host of transgenic crops to find those best able to convert ALA into EPA and DHA. However, the key challenge remains how to move from EPA to significant production of DHA in crops.

There is also the small matter of persuading consumers to buy anything with the words 'genetically modified' on the pack.

Promising the earth

There is a Joint Health Claims Initiative (JHCI) approved claim enabling manufacturers of products with long chain PUFAs to make claims about heart health. However, its insistence that the ratio of EPA and DHA must "reflect that which occurs naturally in oily fish" has been derided by many experts, who claim this makes it "virtually unusable". Philip Calder, professor of nutritional immunology at the University of Southampton, says: "This is a stupid statement. Tuna has twice as much DHA as EPA, whereas in salmon, it's the opposite. There is not sufficient information out there to make such a prescriptive statement about ratios."

Quibbling and uncertainty over claims have held back developments to a degree, agrees Jerry Luff at Nu-Mega Ingredients, which supplies micro-encapsulated tuna oil rich in omega-3. While a generic claim about heart health and omega-3s may well make it onto the 'positive list' of generally accepted health claims under the new Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation, claims about mental health may have to go through a different process, he says. "It's all up in the air at the moment."

The cognitive benefits of omega-3s, particularly for pregnant women, children and the elderly, are potentially very exciting. However, more research is needed in this area, say the experts. Properly randomised, placebo controlled, double blind trials have shown benefits for children with developmental co-ordination disorders, but funds have not been made available to conduct similar studies on the mainstream population, much to the frustration of Dr Alex Richardson, a senior research fellow at Oxford University.

She says: "The frustrating thing is that we have already designed a trial that will explore the benefits for mainstream children, but there isn't the money to fund it."

More work is also needed to establish what quantities of omega-3 manufacturers ought to use in products, she says. "The amount of [Dairy Crest's St Ivel Advance] 'clever milk' you would have to drink to consume the same quantities of omega-3 given to children in clinical trials would unbalance any diet. There isn't even a reference nutrient intake figure yet for omega-3 in relation to cognitive health, only for heart health."

The Food Standards Agency, meanwhile, has talked about funding "small-scale studies", but will not commit the £1M to £1.5M Richardson claims she needs to conduct a trial with at least 1,000 'mainstream' children.

While there has been an enormous amount of interest from UK manufacturers in omega-3, the number of products actually on the market is still relatively small says Nu-Mega's Luff. "But that will change in the last quarter of 2006 and the first half of 2007, when we'll see more mainstream omega-3 products launching," he predicts. "There is particular interest in juice and pureé-based drinks, and while there are technical issues to overcome that impact shelf-life, we have the technology now to put omega-3 into most things."

As to how the market will develop, the type and source of omega-3 will become more important, he suggests. "There will be more progressive differentiation."

John Kurstjens, global marketing manager at omega-3 fish oil supplier Lipid Nutrition, agrees: "The market will shift from talking about omega-3 to talking about EPA and DHA."

Manufacturers also need to address the needs of vegetarians and people worried both about the sustainability of fish stocks and the risk of contamination, claims Lonza, a supplier of algal DHA. "There is a lot of demand for vegetarian DHA as it is allergen free, made via environmentally friendly production processes and contaminant free, says Ulla Held, manager for scientific affairs and nutrition. Seeing the phrase, 'contains fish', a requirement of EU allergen labelling laws for products containing fish oil, "isn't very attractive in a strawberry flavoured yoghurt", she adds.

US-based supplier of algal DHA, Martek Biosciences, which has recently struck deals with Kellogg and General Mills, says the purity factor is becoming an increasingly important issue, with many parents worried by reports that eating fish oil could expose their children to toxins. And their fears are not entirely unwarranted, according to professor Basant Puri, a consultant at Hammersmith Hospital and Imperial College London. He says: "Fish oil is sometimes extracted from the liver, which contains concentrated amounts of potentially harmful pollutants [like mercury]. It can also be rich in vitamin A, and consuming large amounts may cause vitamin A toxicity."

Smells fishy?

Even if the industry does try to ensure fish oils are from toxin-free, sustainable sources, the simple fact is that many consumers don't want to consume fish innards with their food, says Nigel Bazeley, director at Hampshire-based Premium Crops. Many also prefer to buy products 'naturally' high in vital nutrients instead of those that add them in the manufacturing process. "We need to go back to basics and think about what we feed our animals," he says. "Crops used in animal feed now have too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3, we need to change that equation."

Bazeley contracts farmers to grow linseed rich in omega-3 for onward sale to feed manufacturers. "Animals are better at converting ALA into EPA and DHA than humans, so milk or beef from animals fed on ALA-rich feed does contain longer-chain PUFAs," he claims. "France is well ahead of the UK with this. More than 150 livestock-related omega-3 products are now on the market linked to a feed manufacturer we supply."

It would be more difficult for the major dairy and meat processors to use the animal feed approach to get omega-3 into their products, he concedes, but not impossible. "It needs dedicated supply chains, traceability and expertise in farm management, but if there is a market for it, these things can be achieved."

Milk Direct, which supplies Marks & Spencer with omega-3 milk from cows fed on fractionated fish oil, is also convinced that the animal feed route will catch on, says director Tony Fitzhenry. "There is a wider opportunity here in cheeses, yoghurts and butter."

Ironically, one of the reasons we need to boost omega-3 intake in the first place is because modern diets contain too much omega-6. The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in our diets used to be 1:1. Today, largely due to the increasing use of vegetable oils rich in omega-6, like sunflower and corn oil, it's closer to 10:1 or 20:1. Our enzymes are so busy processing omega-6 that they are less available to work on omega-3, something known as 'competitive inhibition'.

The upshot of all this is that we either dramatically reduce our intake of omega-6, or get more omega-3 in our diet, says professor Calder. And this means more 'functional' foods. "People simply don't eat oily fish regularly so they need to get omega-3 from somewhere else."

As to whether the industry ought to be adding 'healthy' ingredients to unhealthy foods (omega-3 chocolate truffles recently hit the US market), the question may prove academic, say regulatory experts. Under the Nutrition and Health Claims regulation, manufacturers will not in any case be allowed to make health claims about products if their nutritional profiles don't make the grade.

Taking on the big boys

New products have been trickling on to the UK market, although simply slapping omega-3 on your label is no guarantee of shelf-space.

Sparky Brand, which burst on to the scene early in 2006 with omega-3 juices, chicken and bread, currently has listings for its juices in Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury and Selfridges. However, its bread has not made it on to shelves at the major supermarkets, which are backing larger horses in the market with more cash to spend on marketing such as Allied Bakeries, which has just launched its Kingsmill Head Start omega-3 loaf.

It remains to be seen whether consumers will feel at all squeamish about eating bread containing fish oil. Warburtons has dropped its omega-3 Good Health Loaf for Women, while research from ingredients giant Puratos suggests that consumers feel happier with plant sources of omega-3 in bakery products.

Although omega-3 products such as Sparky Brand juice, Supajus and iQ3 Brainstorm bars have secured listings with major retailers, their owners don't have the marketing budgets of Dairy Crest, Unilever or RHM, and have had to rely on more creative brand-building methods, says Trisha Jukes at iQ3 bar maker Biomedical Laboratories. Her bars, which contain tuna oil, have been given to children in trials in several schools, a key way of engaging parents, she says.

Scientifically rigorous or not, small scale activity like this has really boosted awareness of omega-3s, says brand agency Dragon Brands. Consumers recently interviewed by Dragon were able to identify a range of benefits derived from omega-3s, unprompted, from improved concentration to better circulation, skin, joint, and immune system health, points out Dragon's director of consumer brands, Claire Nuttall.

However, understanding of the different types of omega-3s is still fairly limited, says Nuttall.

If manufacturers want to stress the relative merits of EPA and DHA versus ALA, or distinguish between algal and fish sources, she says, "they will have to tread very carefully to avoid over-complicating their marketing messages and confusing people". FM