Why Don't We Have More Omega-3s Added to Our Foods?

For all the amazing amount of confirmed health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids coming out of years of clinical research, you might think food manufacturers would be falling all over themselves to add it into food and drinks.

You would be wrong.

It is crystal clear that the lack of omega-3s in our diets are hurting us … badly. Because we don’t eat enough of the foods that contain omega-3s (cold-water fish, chia, flax seeds, walnuts, olive oil, etc.), we’re far more susceptible to everything from heart disease and stroke, to cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, even rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

Most people are not going to be eating two big servings of salmon a week, which might just about bring them up to the minimum amount needed to be useful to their bodies. Fish oil and krill oil producers have for a long time now had technologies to make the omega-3s in their products tasteless, odorless and capable of being added to things like dairy and beverages and bread, so that people who aren’t able to afford supplements or don’t know about their importance could get a leg up on disease by simply ingesting fortified foods.

But North America food producers just haven’t been interested. One major figure among fish-oil producers, Robert Orr, chairman of Ocean Nutrition, puts it this way:

“Nutrition costs money, particularly in North America. Europe respects the nutritional value of food, but in North America we are addicted to food as energy. We’ve got the most efficient food distribution system on the planet … but what we’re eating the most of are things like high fructose corn syrup. Clearly the chronic disease situation is due to our food system.”

Forty years of advertising and buying food cheaply from outlets like WalMart and Costco have allowed us to think that cheaper is good – you can still buy a liter of Coca Cola for 99 cents, while a gallon of milk is about $3.50. If you’re watching your budget, the choice is an easy one, even if it is costly to your health.

The problem, according to those in the industry, is that food companies haven’t been any good at conveying a health message to consumers. When consumers began demanding better foods, the food companies focused on “lesser evil” marketing – reduced fat, reduced salt, more fiber, and so on. The problem, if you’re paying attention, is that many of these foods are processed and very high in carbohydrates, sugars, and worse. So consumers are being misled into thinking they are buying healthy products, when in fact they are simply buying health problems.

Unfortunately, it will likely be 4-5 years before we begin to see omega-3 fortified foods proliferate on grocery store shelves. Unless the American public begins demanding it from the food companies.