Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada – Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited (ONC), supplier of MEG-3™ brand Omega-3 EPA/DHA food and dietary supplement ingredients, announced today the launch of Farmers Choice Partly Skimmed Milk, the first Canadian milk launch with MEG-3™ ingredient.

“We are a local company and are proud to offer our Farmers Choice Partly Skimmed Milk with Ocean Nutrition Canada’s MEG-3™ ingredient,” said Andrea Hickey, Marketing and Communications Manager with Farmers Dairy.  Mrs. Hickey continued, “We believe our customers will love the taste of the milk, the added heart health benefits of MEG-3™ and the fact that this is a 100 percent locally made product.”

The MEG-3™ ingredient technology was researched and developed in Nova Scotia, and Farmers Milk is the first local food product to bring this home grown innovation to Nova Scotia consumers.  Farmers Choice Partly Skimmed Milk is available across all major grocery stores in Nova Scotia.

This product introduction is important for the health of Nova Scotia consumers because there is a major dietary deficiency in the heart healthy omega-3 nutrients Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) found in fish oil.

Dr. Colin Barrow, Vice President of Research and Development at ONC explained, “Experts, including the American Heart Association, agree that people should consume between 500 and 1000 mg per day of EPA and DHA; however, current consumption is less than 100 mg per day.” 

For 15 years, companies have been working to find a solution of how to include fish oils in food products without affecting the taste or smell.  The development of MEG-3™ food ingredient has been a technology breakthrough because it is a unique form of micro-encapsulation with superior ability to protect the fish oil from oxidation so foods like Farmers Choice Partly Skimmed Milk can become more nutritionally dense enabling consumers to enjoy the great taste they expect as well as a consumer friendly and convenient way to obtain these essential nutrients.

MEG-3™ can be found in a number of dairy and bread products globally. In August, Danone Canada Inc introduced Cardivia™ yogurt across Canada. Lark Dairies of Hong Kong has launched Trappist Brand Milk with MEG-3™ ingredient and at this time, the product is outselling their regular milk by a 2:1 ratio. Many future food products with the MEG-3™ ingredient are anticipated to come to market in the near future.  This is due to the high consumer demand and because it is a successful way to put fish oil in food products.

The growth of the MEG-3™ brand has meant the construction of a production facility in Arcadia, Wisconsin, this year and in August, Ocean Nutrition Canada announced construction of a new production plant to be built in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, creating over 500 new jobs. 

Ian Lucas, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, said “The innovative micro-encapsulation technology, which enables us to put fish oil in food products, without the taste or smell of fish, was developed in Nova Scotia and we are creating hundreds of new jobs in the province as a result.  We are proud to see another Nova Scotia company, Farmers Dairy, launch a milk product so consumers can get our MEG-3™ heart healthy food ingredient in great tasting Farmers Choice Milk.”  

About Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited (ONC):

Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited is a privately held company, and wholly owned subsidiary of Clearwater Fine Foods Inc., one of Canada's largest suppliers of quality seafood products.  Ocean Nutrition Canada researches, manufactures, and markets Omega-3 concentrates and other marine based natural ingredients for dietary supplements and foods.  ONC exemplifies scientific rigor in discovery and research programs, along with world leading regulatory and quality compliance standards.  For more information on the health benefits of MEG-3™ ingredients please visit www.meg-3.com.

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