Fermented Cod Liver Oil Scandal: Dr. Rudi Moerck, Leading Fish Oil Expert on Rancidity

This is the seventh video in the Fermented Cod Liver Oil Scandal interview series.

This is the seventh video in the Fermented Cod Liver Oil Scandal interview series.

Dr. Rudi Moerck, President and CEO of nutraceutical company, Valensa International. Dr. Moerck holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry and is one of the world’s leading experts on marine oils and omega 3 fats (scroll down for his bio).

He joins us today to talk to us about the history of fermented cod liver oil. He explains how cod liver oil was traditionally made in barrels in rural communities in Norway. He answers the question, “Is this method of production safe?”

Dr. Rudi explains the health hazards of rancid oil, including cancer and heart disease. He outlines what causes fish oils and other PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids) to oxidize or go rancid. He talks about what it would take to use the “old method” of fermenting cod livers to make cod liver oil in a safe way that would prevent rancidity and produce a product that is safe for human consumption.

Fermented Cod Liver Oil Scandal: Video Interview with Dr. Rudi Moerck

About Dr. Rudi Moerck

Dr. Rudi Moerck is the President and CEO of Valensa International, a nutraceutical company which he has run for almost a decade. Prior to that, Dr. Moerck worked for pharmaceutical companies and chemical companies for over 30 years. He holds a B.S. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry.

Dr. Rudi Moerck’s resume on Linked In

Click here to download Dr. Daniel’s free report: Hook, Line & Stinker: Hook, Line and Stinker!: The Truth About Fermented Cod Liver Oil

Questionable Information on the Green Pasture Products FAQ Page

I’ve spent some time looking at the Green Pasture Products FAQ page. I noticed some interesting things, and some changes to the page that occurred after Dr. Kaayla Daniel’s whistleblower report was published in late August, 2015.

Here are some things I observed on the Green Pastures FAQ (with some comparisons to their old FAQ, and other cod liver oil companies’ FAQ pages (note: click on the images below to increase the size of the images):

1. “Solar Activation” or Exposure to Sunlight

Prior to Kaayla Daniel’s whistleblower report, the Green Pasture FAQ page said that they exposed their cod liver oil to sunlight.

Quote:

Do you solar activate your oils as Dr. Price did early in the 20th century?

We solar activate all our products as Dr Weston A Price did. Solar activation is simply exposing the product to the sun. Our Plant is a solar plant and we ensure that all our oils are exposed the the sun, moon and stars.

Source: Green Pasture Products FAQ Page from August 9, 2015 (viewable via the Wayback Machine, or archive.org)

Some time after the report was published (published on Aug. 23, 2015), the Green Pasture FAQ page was changed to say that they do NOT expose their oil to sunlight.

Do you solar activate your oils as Dr. Price did early in the 20th century?

Our plant is exposed the sun but this does not equate to solar activation as Dr. Price discusses. Dr. Price had a specific protocol and definition for the term solar activation and it does not occur unless uv rays are directly exposed to the products. In our plant the products are not exposed to solar uv.

Source: Green Pasture Products FAQ Page Today

I find this very suspicious. Why change the FAQ? Is the oil exposed to sunlight or not? As Dr. Rudi explains in the video interview, (paraphrase) “if the oil is exposed to sunlight, it is definitely rancid”.

We need David Wetzel to shed some light (pardon the pun) on this and show us how his oil is produced. Is the oil exposed to the “sun, moon and stars” as he has said on his website for nearly a decade, or is it not?

2. No Antioxidants Added

Green Pastures says they don’t add an antioxidant. They say they used to, but then they stopped. As you will hear in the video interview with Dr. Moerck, he says adding an antioxidant slows the PUFA from going rancid. This is a common practice to help protect fish oils from rancidity.

Archie Welch also said in his video interview that Rosita does add an antioxidant to their EVCLO cod liver oil. Many other companies do this as well, such as Nordic Naturals.

Here is what Nordic Naturals says on their FAQ about why they add antioxidants to their cod liver oil:

Here is what Rosita/Corganic says on their FAQ about their EVCLO:

Here is the explanation on the Green Pastures FAQ as to why they do not add antioxidants to the FCLO:

If you read what Wetzel says, he claims:

Studied stability of the product through peroxide study. The product is stable. Zero Benefit to added anti-oxidants

If he is talking about the rancidity markers in the lab tests, this makes sense. Dr. Rudi explained in the video, just as Dr. Kaayla Daniel did in her report, that the rancidity markers go up when the oil first starts to go rancid, and then, as it becomes more rancid, those numbers actually go down. So in that case, he wouldn’t have seen a change in the markers.

3. How to Store Fermented Cod Liver Oil

In the video, I told Dr. Rudi that Dave Wetzel told me that I could store the FCLO in my cupboard (no refrigeration necessary) for 6 months to a year.

Dr. Rudi said the notion of storing cod liver oil in the cupboard is “ridiculous” and said it should always be refrigerated, and it will stay fresh in the fridge for a limited amount of time. This is what it says on the FAQs of other cod liver oil and fish oil companies as well. Refrigeration slows oxidation or rancidity.

On the Green Pastures FAQ, it says:

How do I store cod liver oil?

Refrigerate, cupboard or freezer. Some lots become solid when at refrigerated temperatures.

Cupboard. And no information about how long it lasts.

4. Dosage Recommendations

There is a video featuring WAPF board member, Sarah Pope of The Healthy Home Economist blog on the Green Pasture FAQ page. In Sarah’s video, she says that she takes 1 teaspoon of the FCLO using “the big spoon”.

She says most people think this is a tablespoon, but it’s actually a teaspoon. In fact, that is a tablespoon. I measured a few different sets of flatware and the bigger spoon always measured one tablespoon. It is the smaller spoon that is a teaspoon.

So Sarah Pope, if she’s following her own advice, has been taking one tablespoon daily for a long time.

I bring this up because when Sarah blogged about her reaction to Dr. Kaayla Daniel’s whistle blower report back in August, she blamed Dr. Ron Schmid for “extreme behavior” and “poor judgement”.

Quote:

Such extreme behavior that few if any medical doctors would recommend is not the fault of a product, but rather the fault and poor judgment of the individual taking it. It also indicates a potential lack of objectivity in the report that is concerning.

This was later repeated in the official WAPF statement from Sally Fallon Morell:

This is very disingenuous on the part of the Weston A. Price Foundation, since their website also recommended up to 2 TABLESPOONS per day until… yep, you guessed it. They removed that page after the whistle blower report came out.

Weston A. Price Foundation cod liver oil page before the report (via archive.org):

Weston A. Price Foundation cod liver oil page after the report:

Whoops! Page not found.

Is this suspicious to anyone else? They blamed Dr. Ron’s heart disease on the fact that he “took too much” — and yet they themselves were recommending up to 2 tablespoons up until the report came out.

Just an error, you say? Maybe it was just that one page that had a typo? Unlikely, because I have heard from many, many people that they were told they could take up to 1-3 tablespoons per day by the WAPF.

To the WAPF, I say, if you made a mistake, own it. Don’t just take the web page down and then blame someone who nearly died after following your recommendations. This makes me very angry, and I think we should all be outraged.

Check Back Tomorrow for Another Video in the Series

This is the seventh in a series of video interviews about the potential hazards of fermented cod liver oil.

Check back tomorrow for tomorrow’s video!

Fermented Cod Liver Oil Scandal: Dr. Rudi Moerck, Leading Fish Oil Expert on Rancidity