Although there may be toxic residues present in Antarctic krill and fish,[2][3] the United States
Food and Drug Administration has accepted notices from krill oil manufacturers declaring that krill oil and supplement products derived from it meet the standards for
Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status.[4][5]
Krill oil is listed among authorized European
novel foods by meeting specification limits.[6]
Difference between krill oil and fish oil
Krill oil and oceanic fish oil are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, mainly
eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). While both contain some EPA and DHA as free fatty acids, krill oil contains particularly rich amounts of
choline-containing phospholipids and a
phosphatidylcholine concentration of 34 grams per 100 grams of oil.[7][8]
Krill oil also contains appreciable content of
astaxanthin at 0.1 to 1.5 mg/ml, depending on processing methods, which is responsible for its red color.[9]
^Corsolini S, Covaci A, Ademollo N, Focardi S, Schepens P (March 2006). "Occurrence of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and their enantiomeric signatures, and concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the Adélie penguin food web, Antarctica". Environmental Pollution. 140 (2): 371–82.
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10.1016/j.envpol.2005.04.039.
PMID16183185.
^Covaci A, Voorspoels S, Vetter W, et al. (August 2007). "Anthropogenic and naturally occurring organobrominated compounds in fish oil dietary supplements". Environmental Science & Technology. 41 (15): 5237–44.
Bibcode:
2007EnST...41.5237C.
doi:
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PMID17822085.
^Grandois LG, Marchioni E, Zhao M, Giuffrida F, Ennahar S, Bindler F (June 2009). "Investigation of natural phosphatidylcholine sources: separation and identification by liquid chromatography - electronspray ionization - tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS2) of molecular species". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 57 (14): 6014–6020.
doi:
10.1021/jf900903e.
PMID19545117.
^Ali-Nehari, Abdelkader; Kim, Seon-Bong; Lee, Yang-Bong; Lee, Hye-youn; Chun, Byung-Soo (14 November 2011). "Characterization of oil including astaxanthin extracted from krill (Euphausia superba) using supercritical carbon dioxide and organic solvent as comparative method". Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering. 29 (3): 329–336.
doi:
10.1007/s11814-011-0186-2.
S2CID95331882.