I just saw this on a yahoo board:

It is important to remember that fish oil starts losing its potency immediately after being exposed to air. Which means that fish oil in a bottle pretty much has no value as soon as you open it. You need to use capsules and just poke them with a pen and squirt it on the food. That way every dose is going to be as good as the first one.

Will the resident guru's please ease my mind?

Fish oil does indeed loose potency (start to oxidize) with exposure to air - or metals, light and heat, for that matter, which is why liquid often comes in opaque or dark bottles and should be refrigerated, caps can even be stored in the freezer. The higher the quality of the oil (the longer the "long-chain" fat molecules are), the more sensitive the oil is to oxidization. Oxidation starts as a decrease in nutritional value and ends with rancidity.

All that said, good quality oil stored in the cold and dispensed from a pump spout (like the Grizzly brand) should not suffer an extremely short shelf life (it certainly won't go bad within 24 hours of breaking the seal open). In addition to making dosing easier, the pump spout is designed not to let a lot of air into the bottle, keeping the oil fresh longer. Fish oil is one of those products that you really benefit from sourcing through the highest quality producers - not only will the oil be of the best nutritional value and free of potential toxins, but the packaging and dispensing will be geared for the longest shelf life.

From the Grizzly website:

 Quote:

The storage bottles are air tight until the pump is activated by the end user and coloured to keep out light. So as long as the recommended storage procedures are used minimum deterioration will have taken place. Note when activated the oil should be stored in the refrigerator.
....
Leaving Grizzly Salmon Oil on your dog or cat's food for an extended period of time may cause the highly reactive fatty acids to be oxidized by the air. This results in less valuable, partly saturated fatty acids and you will notice that the oil loses its fresh, pure scent. This will happen over several days and is your proof that Grizzly Salmon Oil has a high content of natural, unaltered polyunsaturated fatty acids like DHA and EPA.

~Natalya

What she said, and if it's not a spout top, refrigerate it, covered tightly.


If you have doubts after fish oil has been accidentally stored wrong, please toss it. It doesn't just become less effective; it (and all oil that's rich in PUFAs) becomes a potential carcinogen when it oxidizes.

I treat oils very carefully, with most in the 'fridge and Grizzly in a dark cool cupboard.

eta
If I used Grizzly very slowly (one small dog, say), I'd refrigerate it too.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (12/31/1969 06:00 PM)
Edit reason: eta

Any idea what the shelf life of Grizzly is?

 Quote: Angie Stark

Any idea what the shelf life of Grizzly is?

Well, if you keep it over the stove or in the sun, the shelf life is shot.


If it's carefully stored from day one, Grizzly says the shelf life is a year.

I'd be more conservative, but JMO.

do you all get sick of being so damned smart?! ;-)
once AGAIN...thanks!

I recently bought a gallon of Bravo Salmon oil, I keep the whole gallon frozen and thaw it only to refill my 32 oz bottle that goes into the fridge and stays there.

Do you think that it is not a good idea to buy the gallon size, because of the bottle being opened intermittently?
I assumed that because it stays frozen for the most part, that it helps keep the oils properties in tact.

Sounds good to me, as long as you're thawing it in the fridge. Your fish oil never has warm air and light contact from the time you open it.

Unless you go through the gallon in a year? Then I'd probably store it in the fridge, still transferring the current supply to the pump bottle for use.

All JMO.


eta
http://www.ehow.com/way_5312185_ways-store-fish-oil.html


Edited by Connie Sutherland (02/16/2010 03:30 PM)
Edit reason: eta

 Quote: Angie Stark

do you all get sick of being so damned smart?! ...

Oh no. In fact, we're thinking about a new Smart People Club. You know -- like a better, cooler, smarter Mensa.

Excellent Connie! Thanks!
It has really been good for our budget to get the salmon oil in the gallon. Both of my dogs are getting therapeutic doses of salmon oil because of allergies.