Rancid Fish Oil

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There hasn't been enough research done to look at the level of ill effects on humans when they take a rancid fish oil. Study haven't really shown any sort of extreme detrimental health effects, but that's only because it's very difficult to test in humans. The three factors that lead to oxidation are exposure to air, light and heat. Most of the fish that we're sourcing for fish oil comes from peruvian anchovetas. They're basically part of the world's largest fishery.

They may be one of the world’s favourite supplements but, according to a recent study, more than one in 10 fish oil capsules are rancid. Most of the oil comes from Peruvian anchovetas, a type of anchovy, which is also used to feed pigs, poultry and farmed fish. And despite catching more than 4m tonnes a year of Peruvian anchovetas to cater to the global demand, large industry players want to scale this up even further. Madeleine Finlay speaks to environment journalist Richa Syal about why so many fish oil pills are rancid, and hears from journalist Dan Collyns in Chimbote, Peru, about how the industry is affecting the local environment and its residents. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod