Martek, Flora Announce New Udo's Choice DHA Oil Blend Featuring life'sDHA

14/11/06 DHA omega-3 innovator Martek Biosciences and natural health product manufacturer Flora, Inc. announced that Martek's flagship product, life'sDHA, is featured in Udo's Choice DHA Oil Blend, a flaxseed oil blend that is the latest addition to Flora's Udo's Choice brand, a successful line of vegetarian, organic and sustainable health oils. The Udo's Choice DHA Oil Blend packaging will display the life'sDHA logo.

Udo's Choice DHA Oil Blend is an unrefined vegetarian source of all the omega-3 essential fatty acids: EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), ALA (alphalinolenic acid) and now DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), a major structural fat in the brain and eyes and a key component of the heart.

"Martek is pleased to be partnering with Flora and Udo's Choice to offer consumers an omega-3 oil that is truly unique because it is vegetarian, is free of ocean-borne contaminants and has great sensory characteristics," said Steve Dubin, CEO of Martek Biosciences Corporation. "DHA is important for health throughout the lifecycle and Udo's Choice DHA Oil Blend with life'sDHA is an easy-to-use product that everyone, from infants to adults, can use."

DHA omega-3 is a long-chain omega-3 fatty acid that serves as a primary building block for the brain and the eyes and supports brain, eye and cardiovascular health throughout life. There is a large and growing body of scientific evidence demonstrating that people of all ages, from infants to aging adults, benefit from an adequate supply of DHA omega-3 in the diet. Several recent scientific reviews have noted the importance of DHA omega-3 in proper brain and eye function, and there are large studies currently underway to investigate its role in decreasing the prevalence of certain neurological disorders. Yet despite its importance, Americans have among the lowest dietary intakes of DHA omega-3 in the world.

Martek's life'sDHA is unique in the market because it is derived from a sustainable and vegetarian source. Made from microalgae under tightly controlled manufacturing conditions, life'sDHA is free of oceanic contaminants that may be present in certain fish or fish oils. Microalgae are the only vegetarian source of DHA omega-3, the key omega-3 for brain and eye development and function.

"For a long time, we had no way to include a vegetarian, unrefined DHA in our Udo's Choice oil products," said Udo Erasmus, Ph.D., Udo's Choice namesake and author of Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill. "Adding life'sDHA to Udo's Choice Oil Blend offers consumers all three essential fatty acids in one unrefined vegetarian formulation that is certified organic, vegetarian, and produced under Good Manufacturing Practices. This oil retains all the benefits of Udo's Choice 3-6-9 Oil Blend but adds the benefits of vegetarian DHA with no methyl mercury, PCBs or dioxin, no high-temperature processing, no fishy taste or smell."