Every March 3^rd, we celebrate Global Omega-3 Day—a day dedicated to the omega-3s DHA and EPA, their importance to human health, and the need to incorporate more of them into our diets. This Global Omega-3 Day, we want to highlight three reasons why food producers, supplements manufacturers, and most importantly, consumers, need new sources of DHA and EPA.

1. Omega-3 demand is outpacing available supply.

We spent more than 20 years creating Omega-3 Canola, a new source of DHA and EPA that doesn’t rely on conventional marine sources. We invested a generation of scientific expertise into this effort for a simple reason: There aren’t enough fish in the sea.

Fish oil production has been flat for the last quarter century. According to the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation (IFFO), 1 million tonnes of fish oil has been produced per year for the last 25 years. In that time, the world’s population has increased by more than 2 billion people.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported in 2019 that 93% of fish stocks were fished at or beyond capacity.

There’s been a gap between supply and demand, and it’s growing. Nutriterra DHA Omega-3 Canola oil can close that gap. Omega-3 Canola can double the world’s supply of DHA using less than 5% of current canola producing land.

2. People need more DHA and EPA in their diets.

Fatty fish—such as salmon, herring, anchovies and mackerel—are the main conventional dietary source of DHA and EPA. However, some people can’t consume fish because of dietary restrictions, and many more simply don’t like to eat fish. A consumer survey conducted a few years ago found that only 20% of Americans eat fish twice per week—the amount recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Only 56% eat fish at least twice per month.

Obviously, dietary practices vary around the world, as do recommendations for DHA and EPA intake. While there is no universal standard, the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3 (GOED) “recommends consuming 500 mg of combined EPA and DHA per day for general health, and higher quantities for specific life stages or health conditions.”

What is largely agreed upon is that the data shows that no matter where you are, most people aren’t consuming enough omega-3s.

The best way to assess DHA and EPA intake is to measure a person’s omega-3 index—the percentage of fatty acids in the blood which is DHA or EPA. This is a useful measure because research has shown that maintaining an omega-3 index of 8% or more correlates with reduced risk of heart disease, and reduced risk of death from heart disease, cancer, and other causes. Indexes below 4% correlate with increased risk of all the above.

In a recently updated global survey of omega-3 indexes, of the 47 countries and territories with sufficient data, only 6 had average omega-3 indexes greater than 8%: Japan, Greenland, South Korea, Iceland, Finland, and Norway.

Australia? 5.44% Brazil? 3.44% Germany? 5.27% India? 3.62%. USA? 5.06%.

Wherever you are, people in your community almost certainly aren’t consuming enough DHA and EPA.

To increase the world’s omega-3 intake to optimal levels, we’re going to need a lot more omega-3s. That’s what makes Nutriterra so crucial as a source of omega-3 nutrition. It can be scaled like other crops to meet consumer demand. This once-in-a-generation advancement can meet the world’s ever-growing need for DHA and EPA, using existing production and processing infrastructure.

More importantly for consumers, it’s an omega-3 for everyone, whether you do, don’t, or can’t eat fish. It has all the omega-3s of fish, but without the fish.

3. We need omega-3 ingredients that can be used in more foods.

This year, the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3 (GOED) and Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ) published the results of a survey of nearly 1,200 dietary supplement consumers.

One of the most striking findings was that roughly 35% to 40% of consumers believed that DHA and EPA could be found in flaxseed, chia seeds, walnuts, and olive oils—none of which contain DHA or EPA. Another 30% to 45% of consumers didn’t know if various foods had DHA and EPA or not.

In short, most consumers don’t know where to get their DHA and EPA nutrition, or worse, believe they’re consuming DHA and EPA when they’re not.

We need to get DHA and EPA into more foods. However, conventional sources often have flavors that make them a poor fit for many foods and formulations.

This is where Nutriterra shines. It delivers total omega-3 nutrition in an ingredient—canola oil—that’s already used around the world in innumerable applications. Its mild flavor and neutral odor allow Nutriterra to go where other omega-3 ingredients can’t.

Global Omega-3 Day and Nutriterra exist for the same reason—because omega-3s are important to human health, and people need to consume more of them.

Nutriterra is an accessible and scalable way for consumers to get the essential nutrition they need. We hope you’ll celebrate Global Omega-3 Day by joining us in our mission to increase the world’s access to complete omega-3 nutrition. Contact us to learn how Nutriterra can improve the health of your consumers, and your business.

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