Omega-3 study ‘bumper catch of red herrings’

“Promoting this new study as contradicting over 5,000 scientific papers testifying to the positive effects on health of omega-3 consumption is misleading and potentially dangerous for the nation’s health,” comments Sid Patten, Chief Executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation. “What this paper actually seems to say is that extra research is needed in some areas to determine the specific effects of omega-3 on certain conditions.

“However, what every reputable nutritional body and food advisor recommends is that we should eat at least one portion of oil-rich fish, such as Scottish farmed salmon, a week for optimum health. Although salmon consumption is increasing, as a nation we still fall a long way short of this. In short, we should eat more fish, not less, if we want our collective health to improve.”

This view is echoed by omega-3 expert and Secretary/Treasurer of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids, Dr Ray Rice: “The study is flawed conceptually, and should not cause people to regard seafoods as anything but tasty and nutritious. It is a bumper catch of red herrings, which could end up harming of lot of people.

“The evidence shows that people that have suffered one heart attack can significantly reduce the risk from dying of a subsequent heart attack by eating oil-rich fish. This is not questioned by this paper."
Melanie Ruffell, Executive Director of the UK’s body that regulates health claims on foods, the Joint Health Claims Initiative, added:

“JHCI exists to provide an opinion on the validity of specific health claims; in this case the claim was, “Eating 3g weekly, or 0.45g daily, long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, as part of a healthy lifestyle, helps maintain heart health”. Our panel of 7 experts concluded that the weight of evidence presented substantiated the claim, which was based on a systematic and transparent review of all available evidence up until 30th March 2004. Full details of the evidence submitted are publicly available on our website, www.jhci.org.uk, under approved claims.”

The review published in the British Medical Journal is up until Feb 2002.

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