The products were:
-Medic Marine’s cold pressed multi haiolje, extra virgin
-Bioform’s Arctic omega sølvhaiolje
-Rosita’s handcrafted ratfish liver oil
The results came as part of the authorities annual investigation into the safety of fish oil supplements on the Norwegian market.
Lise Torkildsen, head of the authority's seafood section, told us the National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES) had conducted the test of ten products a year for about 15 years and this was the first time results had come back positive.
However this year’s test marked a first look at the safety of ‘alternative’ fish oils mostly sold online, and the authority emphasised that ‘regular’ fish oils like cod liver oil were safe.
All three products contained chimaeras, also known as ratfish and a close relative of sharks.
Torkildsen said the kind of people buying and selling these products were very "alternative" and the fish was by no means a common ingredient in Norwegian fish oil products.
She said the high levels may be because the species was a deep-water predator - the higher up the food chain a fish is the higher its contaminant levels are. The authority was also investigating the cleaning practices used, which can reduce levels.
Back in 2009 a Canadian study of 30 fish oil supplements showed all contained detectable residues of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine insecticides (OCs). Some species like shark contained higher levels than products with mixes of fish like anchovy, mackerel and sardine.
Ripples
A link for the Bioform product appeared to be dead and the Medic Marine and Rosita products were marked ‘sold out’. All products were bought online but the Bioform product was also available in the shop Kinsarvik Fruktutsalg in Bergen, Torkildsen said.
The case had now been forwarded onto the relevant authority departments where there would be contact with the companies to determine the safety of the products, cleaning processes used and whether the companies were registered to sell the fish oil in the first place.
The companies did not respond to our request for comment in time for the publication of this article.
Next year the tests would continue to focus on these alternative products as well as more mainstream oils.