Independent laboratory tests have found fish oil used by a leading British supplement manufacturer to be the cleanest ever tested, providing a safe alternative for the thousands of pregnant women who were today advised to increase their oily fish intake, despite ongoing fears over the harmful toxins the fish contains.

American experts urged today (4th October) that eating more oily fish could prevent pregnant women from developing postnatal depression and help brain development in babies. Yet oily fish high up the food chain such as tuna contain high levels of dioxins and PCBs which, if taken in excess by child bearing women, could have a harmful affect on the baby. For this reason, our own Food Standards Agency state that women should not exceed two portions of fish per week, despite today’s claims by the American based National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies coalition.

Fish oil supplements do not pose the same health risk, yet they still provide the same omega 3 benefits of oily fish. The VeryWise range of fish oil supplements, manufactured here in Britain, was recently reported as being the cleanest ever to be tested at Canadian-based Nutrasource, a world leader in natural health product analysis.

A spokesperson from Nutrasource said:

“As a point of interest, we can say with conviction that from a PCB perspective, this is the cleanest oil we have ever seen.”

Dr Nigel Plummer of VeryWise Nutrition explained,

“All of our fish oil supplements are formulated using fish oil from sardines and anchovies because they contain fewer harmful chemicals than fish higher up the food chain. They then undergo rigorous purification techniques to make them as pure and effective as possible."

“Pregnant women are bombarded with conflicting advice on how much oily fish they should be consuming. We welcome the research into how omega 3 can benefit them but women are still understandably concerned about the health risk these toxins may pose to their babies. Supplements provide an ideal solution for pregnant women who want to increase their omega 3 intake but are concerned about the potential health risks of toxins contained in oily fish.”