Pristine and Pure
What is purity?
Purity is assessed by measuring the levels of heavy metals, PCB’s and dioxins in the fish oil.
At the moment there are four standards that are used internationally. These are indicated in the below table. You will note that we at Xtend-Life have set our own specification standards which are much more stringent than anyone else’s. They are all set at the lowest limits of detection for most laboratory analytical equipment. You will also notice that most of them are significantly lower than the normal international standard.
If you check our COA (Certificate of Analysis) you will see that the levels of purity are so good with our Omega 3 / DHA Fish Oil that even at these lower levels, NO contaminants are detected.
| Component |
Xtend-Life
Specifications |
International
Fish Oil
Standards
(IFOS) |
Council for
Responsible
Nutrition
(CRN) |
European
Pharmacopoeia |
Norwegian
Medicinal
Standard |
| Arsenic (ppb) |
<50
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
| Cadmium (ppb) |
<10
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
| Mercury (ppb) |
<10
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
| Lead (ppb) |
<50
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
| Total PCBs (ppt) |
<5
|
45
|
90
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Total Dioxins &
Furans (ppt) |
<0.5
|
1*
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
Notes:
* N/A means ‘Not Available’
* < means less than the indicated Xtend-Life Specifications which are the minimal levels of detection for standard testing equipment.
* ppb means part per billion and ppt means parts per trillion
* IFOS although included in the table is not a recognized entity. It is a private organization and it is claimed by some ‘observers’ that it was established for the benefit of a few marketers of fish oil.
Pure facts
If you have a look at the above table you will see that:
- Our specification for mercury is set at the level of detection at 10ppb (parts per billion). None was detected at that level.
- In contrast, the various international organizations set their acceptable levels at 100ppb – ten times higher than us!
- Our specifications for total PCBs is set at a level nine times below that set by IFOS and 18 times below the level set by CRN.
- Our total dioxin specification level is set at a level four times lower than the other organizations.
Natural purity the Xtend-Life way
We are often asked how have we been able to achieve higher purity levels than other fish oils? This is how:
- 50% of our Omega 3 / DHA Fish Oil is natural New Zealand hoki oil from fish located in a pristine area of the Southern Ocean where there has never been exposure to contaminants and heavy metals. Unlike the North Sea which is becoming increasingly polluted, the area where the hoki are located is nowhere near any shipping lines. The fish and their oil contain no detectable contaminants at all.
- The balance of the fish oil is made up from South Pacific tuna which we molecularly distill and concentrate, BUT prior to the molecular distillation and concentration process, it is put through a special proprietary purifying process that enables a higher level of purity that can be achieved through molecular distillation alone.
The above two factors are unique in this industry and exclusive to Xtend-Life.
