GOED calls for omega-3 IOM petition support

12-Feb-2010 - Last updated on 12-Feb-2010 at 13:37 GMT

The Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s (GOED) wants interested parties to throw their support behind a campaign to establish omega-3 dietary reference intakes (DRI) in the US for the first time.

The group that represents omega-3 suppliers, manufacturers and retailers was one of eight groups that lodged a petition with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in September 2009 calling for an expert panel to be established to consider the matter of omega-3 DRI.

The petition can be found here.

The IOM has stated in the past that there is not enough evidence to determine an omega-3 DRI, a situation the omega-3 industry is doing its best to change.

It is estimated an IOM-led review could cost up to $1.5m.

GOED asserts that a DRI could dramatically reduce healthcare costs via increased omega-3 consumption, an assertion backed by 2009 Harvard university research that found omega-3 deficiency caused up to 96,000 preventable deaths.

GOED said the establishment of DRI could “potentially result in billions of dollars in reduced healthcare costs and bring strong credibility to the nutrition industry”.

The petition states: “It is important to note that the co-signers of this petition are not asserting that any particular amount of EPA and/or DHA intake be established as a DRI, but instead are asserting that IOM should convene a panel to make such a determination on its own.”

“We believe the amount of new scientific knowledge and consensus, in areas IOM previously identified as needing further data, warrants an updated review of the DRIs for EPA and DHA. Furthermore, we believe that the body of science behind EPA and DHA has grown substantially faster than other macro or micronutrients and warrants the establishment of a special panel to evaluate this science.”