Omega-3 canola oil supplier filing for regulatory approval in Australia, US and Canada

24-Mar-2017 - Last updated on 27-Mar-2017 at 01:37 GMT

The company's brand for human nutrition products will be called Nutriterra. ©iStock

Omega-3 canola firm Nuseed has filed for regulatory approval in Australia, with submissions for Canada and the US set to be lodged later this month.

Pending regulatory approvals, commercial operations are expected to commence in 2018 or 2019.

Nuseed said its proprietary canola would provide long-chain omega-3 oils, similar to those found in fish oil, using a sustainable land-based source.

It has been developed through collaboration between Nuseed, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

“Reaching these regulatory milestones in all three countries gives us both timing and location options as we commercialise canola based long-chain omega-3,” said Brent Zacharias, Nuseed group executive.

“These submissions reflect our confidence in and commitment to the science, safety and global potential of our omega-3 programme.”

The regulatory submissions are being made to the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) and Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) in Australia; to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada in Canada; and to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA.

The company also announced commercial brands for the resulting oil product; Nutriterra for human nutrition application and Aquaterra for aquaculture feed uses.

By providing a proven land-based source of these oils, Nuseed said it would help maintain adequate supply to meet strongly increasing global demand. It claims one hectare of this canola has the potential to provide the omega-3 yield from 10,000kg of fish.