Canada looks at soy as Omega-3 source

With the hunt for alternative sources of Omega-3 in full swing, Canadian health officials are considering genetically modified soybeans adapted to produce the essential fatty acids.

Omega-3 fatty acids, most commonly found in fish, are important for cardiovascular health and brain development in humans.

For that reason, food guides in countries like Canada recommend people eat fatty fish twice a week.

However, this advice is unsustainable, researchers claim. That's because, in the same way Canada's East Coast cod fishery fell into decline, global fish stocks are falling. Researchers predict there will be a shortage of Omega-3s globally, likely by mid-century.

"It will really be helpful to find alternative sources of Omega-3," Dr. Ussif Rashid Sumaila, director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit at the University of British Columbia, told CBC News. "That [genetically modified soybeans] is a possible source of dealing with this problem."

The type of Omega-3s found in flax, or in the eggs of chicken fed flax, isn't as easily used by the body as the type found in fish oil. But it is possible to modify soybeans so they make Omega-3s that would offer the same benefits as fish, says David Jenkins, a nutritional scientist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

"This would mean you've got a sustainable source of Omega-3 that comes from a plant form and you'd not be destroying the ocean stocks of fish," he says.

Recent research from the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota shows that oil from genetically modified soybeans significantly increased levels of Omega 3s.

While Canada considers how to proceed, the U.S. has already approved modified soybeans that contain Omega-3 fatty acids. But the issue could be controversial as many environmentalists are opposed to genetic modification of food. As well, many people suffer from soy allergies.

Researchers are also investigating other possible sources of Omega-3s from the ocean, examining algae or tiny zooplankton which are still plentiful.