Golden Omega has become the first omega-3 concentrate producer to successfully obtain a certification from ORIVO, ensuring pure raw material sourcing. Through independent third party testing from ORIVO, all the raw material involved in Golden Omega´s production, has now been verified as pure anchovy from the South-Pacific Ocean, and will be continuously verified through raw material monitoring. In addition, ORIVO and Golden Omega have recently launched a major development project, which aims to further strengthen the traceability for Golden Omega´s products all the way into consumer-ready omega-3 concentrates.
Through an on-site factory audit combined with thorough sample collection and testing of Golden Omega´s fish oil ingredients, an extensive certification program has been established. The certification involves both surveying trade documents, mass balance calculations and actual ingredient testing. Such certification is the first of its kind in ORIVO´s portfolio.
The agreement we have entered with Golden Omega is another major milestone for ORIVO. As concentrated omega-3 represents over 40 % of the market for human omega-3 supplements, we have had this segment on our development list all the way since our start-up in 2014. To have Golden Omega on board as our first client from this segment is especially satisfying, as they are very committed to source crude oils from a single species fishery for their full portfolio of omega 3 concentrates, says CEO Svein Erik Haugmo from ORIVO.
The ORIVO technology and certification are already is in use for natural marine ingredients such as omega-3 oils and salmon meal. The ability to actually test finished products and trace them back to marine species and geographic origin has been the important advantage over other certification programs. According to CTO in ORIVO, Erik Fuglseth, the aim is to introduce this finished product testing also for concentrates:
For technical reasons, it is not straightforward to decide the origin of a chemically altered fat molecule such as concentrated omega-3 products are composed of. In order to be able to offer a consumer-ready certification logo on finished products in near future, we have started a very promising project. The aim is to confirm that a finished product consisting of pure Golden Omega concentrates matches the chemical fingerprint of oil collected directly from the Golden Omega´s production in Chile. In the longer run, 2-3 years from now, we will be able to authenticity test any concentrate product.
Golden Omega is the first producer to start using the authenticity test for concentrated omega-3 ingredients. The background for doing so is quite obvious according to Commercial Director of Golden Omega, Claudio Aracena:
For the first time we are now able to certify through a 3rd party test that our products are based only on authentic anchovy oil from the South-Pacific Ocean. We have of course never had doubts about it – we see this rather as a very valuable tool to offer all our clients full transparency about the marine resource that is being used in all our concentrates. The feedback so far from our customers is also that this certification will be very valuable and assuring for them and the consumers of their products.
ABOUT ORIVO AS
ORIVO provides laboratory services for testing the authenticity of marine ingredients, both oil and meal. The testing technology, initially developed by the Norwegian research organisation SINTEF, is based on proven NMR analysis combined with a strong database and statistical algorithms. ORIVO is able to verify marine species and region of origin via quality assured sampling protocols. Based in Molde, Norway, ORIVO serves the global markets independent 3rd party verification to meet the consumer demand for non-adulterated and sustainable marine ingredients.
ABOUT GOLDEN OMEGA
Golden Omega is a Chilean Company focused on producing high quality Omega 3 concentrates from sources that are verified as pure anchovy from the South Pacific. Golden Omega’s state-of- the-art production facilities are located in northern Chile, in the middle of the largest anchovy fishery in the world. Golden Omega utilizes patented processes to differentiate and to raise the level of purity in their product portfolio.
