Retailers Named in Fish Oil Lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO — Environmentalists and the Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation, a nonprofit consumer rights organization, filed a lawsuit here today in Superior Court of the State of California, naming eight manufacturers and retailers for distributing fish oil supplements with "illegally undisclosed and unnecessarily high levels of contamination with polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds." PCBs are industrial chemicals recognized for causing cancer and reproductive toxicity.

Those named in the lawsuit are: CVS Pharmacy; General Nutrition Corp.; Now Health Group; Omega Protein; Pharmavite LLC (Nature Made brand); Rite Aid Corp.; Solgar; and TwinLab Corp.

The plaintiffs in the case tested the fish oil supplements, which are sold as health supplements for their Omega-3 fatty acid benefits, and found PCB contamination above the so-called "safe harbor" limits set for human PCB consumption under California"s Proposition 65. That law requires consumers to be warned about such exposures. However, testing results and what constitutes high levels of contamination are vaguely explained on the Frequently Asked Questions of the plaintiffs website.

The plaintiffs said they would conduct more tests and expect to add other companies to the legal action. SN contacted several of those named in the lawsuit for comment. Rite Aid said they could not comment because they weren't familiar with the lawsuit. CVS said as a matter of practice, it does not comment on pending litigation and directed inquiries regarding the matter to product manufacturers. GNC said that "while we have not had an opportunity to review the filing, GNC is confident that its cod liver oil product, as well as all other GNC fish oil products, are safe and appropriate for use by all consumers." GNC noted that the only GNC product cited in the litigation, GNC Liquid Norwegian Cod Liver Oil, scored among the lowest of the 10 products tested.

Pharmavite, manufacturer of Nature Made, said, it "takes seriously its obligation to meet regulatory requirements and consumer expectations for safe and effective products. Specifically, the company's fish oil products comply with all Federal laws prescribed by the United States Food and Drug Administration, and individual state laws including California Proposition 65, as well as European Commission standards."

The company said Nature Made's fish oil products have been awarded the United States Pharmacopeia Verification Program mark for omega-3 fish oil purity, potency and quality. Nature Made Fish Oil received a "Best Choice" rating based on a survey conducted by Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization representing more than 400,000 members, when the organization evaluated fish oil supplements for environmental contaminants.

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