Croda Chemicals Europe applied to the FSA to use refined echium oil in a range of food products, including milk and yoghurt based drinks, breakfast cereals and nutrition bars, and in food supplements.
But before it can do so, the oil has to be approved under novel foods legislation before being used in food products, since it was not commonly eaten in Europe prior to May 1997.
The draft opinion given by the FSA's Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes brings a new omega-3 source closer to market, just at a time when demand for healthy oils is at an all-time high and the search is on for viable and vegetarian alternatives to fish oils.
The ingredient is obtained by super-refining oil extracted from the seeds of Echium plantagineum , and is said to be rich in omega-6 fatty acids as well as the omega-3 stearidonic acid, which is readily converted to EPA (eicasapentaenoic acid) in the body.
David Shannon, sales director for Croda Health Care told NutraIngredients-USA this week: "We've done some studies at the University of Guelph in Canada, that show about four times more ready conversion from stearidonic acid to EPA than from ALA [ alpha-linolenic acid] to EPA."
Most vegetarian sources, such as flaxseed, yield ALA, but since this has been seen to be less bioavailable for humans than longer-chain EPA and DHA, typically from marine sources such as oily fish, this has proved a barrier to the vegetarian market.
DHA can also be derived from microalgae.
" The biggest selling point of this is the omega-3 EPA for those people who don't want to take fish supplements," said Shannon.
The positive news from the FSA coincides with Croda's launch of its Echium ingredient in the US, under the brand name Incromega V3.
After spending seven years developing the ingredient, Croda recently passed the US Food & Drug Administration's New Dietary Ingredient hurdle.
The FSA has set a deadline of June 20 for receipt of any comments on the ACNFP decision.