Page 29 - Spring2009

The second type is a non-deodorized product easy to see the handwriting on the wall. The odds With only
with a fair amount of natural vitamin A and D left that this factory would soon fall in with the others
in. According to the company website, Garden of and start adding synthetic vitamins instead of one factory
Life cod liver oil falls in this category. It contains natural ones were great. I was also concerned that still engaging
500-1500 IU vitamin A per gram (2500-7500 IU we had no cod liver oil manufacture in the U.S. in the
per teaspoon) and 100-175 IU vitamin D per gram What would happen if FDA found some reason
(500-875 IU per teaspoon). to prohibit imports? And finally, I was offended relatively
The third type is the fully cleaned and de- by the industrialization of a sacred food. I now expensive
odorized cod liver oil with synthetic vitamins fully understand that today’s fish oil industry process of
added back in. Most of the cod liver oils on has committed the same crime to a historically
the market fall into this category. (You’ll need sacred food as the dairy industry has committed adding
to check with the individual manufacturer to on milk. natural
verify whether their cod liver oil falls in this As predicted, the factory in question ceased vitamins back
category.) These vary in dose from about 1100 using natural vitamins early this year. When my
to 4600 IU vitamin A per teaspoon and 180 to current stock runs out, this relatively natural into
460 IU vitamin D per teaspoon. One company, high-vitamin cod liver oil will no longer be avail- processed

Nordic Naturals, now adds supplemental vitamin able. cod liver oil,
D to their Nordic Naturals Vitamin D brand, to
compensate for the vitamin D removed during RETURN TO OLD METHODS it was easy to
processing. Fortunately, I had anticipated this eventual- see the
The final category is the fully cleaned and ity several years ago when I began contemplating handwriting
deodorized product with natural vitamins added manufacturing cod liver oil myself. I wanted to
back in. This is the so-called high-vitamin cod produce a cod liver oil that contained only natural on the wall.
liver oil, standardized at 2340 IU vitamin A per vitamins and, if possible, do it without the indus-
gram (11,700 IU per teaspoon) and 234 IU vita- trial alkali and deodorizing treatments. I also
min D (1170 IU per teaspoon). This is the type wanted to produce cod liver oil in the traditional
of cod liver oil I imported into the U.S. and sold way, which is by fermentation. I had read that
under the Blue Ice label; it is also sold by Radiant in Roman times, long before refrigeration, fish
Life and Dr. Ron’s UltraPure. guts were placed in a barrel with sea water and
allowed to ferment. What came out the bottom
HANDWRITING ON THE WALL of the barrel was a watery fermented fish sauce
With only one factory still engaging in the called garam, widely used as a seasoning (prob-
relatively expensive process of adding natural ably the precursor of Worcestershire sauce). The
vitamins back into processed cod liver oil, it was oil floated to the top and was collected carefully.

COD LIVER OIL IN BRITAIN

“The British desperately needed not only food but cod-liver oil. They had a history of being great cod-liver oil enthu-
siasts. For centuries before it was refined for ingestion, a blackish residue from livers left in barrels was used as a balm,
as it still is in West Africa. In the 1780’s British medicine decided that cod-liver oil was a remedy for rheumatism, then a
catchall diagnosis for aches and pains.
“During the nineteenth century, it was used to treat tuberculosis, malnutrition, and other poverty-related diseases.
Between the wars, cod-liver oil became a major business in Hull and was used both for livestock and humans. During
World War II, the British Ministry of Food, concerned about the effect of a tightened food supply on health, provided
free cod-liver oil for pregnant and breast-feeding women, children under five, and adults over forty.
“School nurses forcefully administered spoonfuls of the vile-tasting liquid, while adults were often given it with orange
juice. All this oil came from Iceland, where it contributed to a secondary Icelandic trade that remained and prospered
after the war.
“The British government, believing that the oil had produced the healthiest children England had ever seen, despite
bombings and rationing, continued the program until 1971. It was finally discontinued because people refused to take
the oil. Icelanders, however, still take it, as do many Americans.”
Source: Mark Kurlansky, Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, pages 154-155.

SPRING 2009 Wise Traditions 27