Ask the Pharmacist

Nickel allergy: omega-3 supplements, which one to choose?

Good morning, I read in the characteristics of Omegor Vitality and the following item: absence of pollutants and heavy metals such as mercury, lead, PCBs and dioxins I wanted to know if these characteristics include the absence of nickel. I am allergic to nickel. Thank you, Marco


Dear Marco, 


Omegor Vitaliy, an omega-3 supplement, for quality and purity has achieved IFOS(International Fish Oil Standards - https://certifications.nutrasource.ca/certified-products/product?id=UGAN0004) 5-star certification, the highest international recognition in omega-3 supplements.


The process of oil purification, multiple molecular distillation remove contaminants from the product, which have entered the environment due to industrial activities and have persisted for years by bioaccumulating in oily fish. Nickel is a metal that is naturally occurring, sometimes in food and water by contamination from the environment. 


EFSA (European Food Safety Agency) reports that acute exposure to nickel causes allergic reactions in some individuals. For more information: https://www.issalute.it/index.php/la-salute-dalla-a-alla-z-menu/m/metalli-pesanti-negli-alimenti#il-nichel-negli-alimenti There are currently no maximum levels of nickel in food in the European Union. 


To date, therefore, there is no real certification issued as a result of external inspections, but only self-certification by individual manufacturers who pledge to make their products safe. Furthermore, there is no product that can be completely free of this metal. Usually a value of 1 ppm (parts per million) or less = 1 mg/kg of nickel is such that it should not be harmful even to those suffering from SNAS (Systemic Nickel Allergy Syndrome). 


The manufacturer of the fish oil contained in Omegor Vitality informed us, in pursuance of our request, that as of 2019 they have started to analyze the nickel content in their finished products at a certain frequency to begin collecting data. All results on finished products analyzed so far have been found to be less than 0.045 mg/kg, which is less than 1 mg/kg as described above. 


Sincerely,


Beatrice Iozzino, pharmacist