There's been some buzz about the granting of US FDA approval for a genetically modified soybean that produces oil containing omega-3 fatty acids. It's a low level omega-3 - stearidonic acid (SDA) - some percentage of which can be converted in the body to the higher level very long chain omega-3 fatty acids that are essential to health - eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).

SDA is like ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) that is found in flax seed, considered by some to be a marketing ruse since only a very small percentage of ALA consumed gets converted to useful fatty acids. SDA is a bit more convertible, but like ALA you need to eat a lot of it to actually get health benefits. The conversion rate to the essential fatty acid DHA is so low that some scientists insist that DHA must be consumed directly, and that products claiming to be omega-3 enriched, such as some margarines, skate very close to false advertising - yes, ALA is an omega-3 fatty acid, but not the ones you need. SDA is better, but has the same type of problems.

Herbivores, animals that have digestive systems capable of handling large quantities of vegetation, do consume great quantities of ALA and SDA found in greens such as leaves, grasses and algae. The low conversion rates to EPA, DHA and CLA - the valuable essential fatty acids - are not a problem for them since they eat so much ALA. Omnivores such as humans, and carnivores such as oily fish like trout and salmon, can't eat and digest enough greens. However, they can eat the herbivores and benefit from the EPA, DHA and CLA that they contain. For example, your house cat does better if it can catch some wild mice that had eaten a natural diet since they will have these essential fatty acids in their flesh.

So what is the real significance of a genetically modified soybean that has elevated levels of SDA? Well, much less than is being claimed, at least from a health perspective. Those who are dreaming that farmed fishes fed on grains rather than their natural diet of little fishes rich in the valuable very long chain omega-3 fatty acids will now be more like real fishes if they are fed the GMO soybeans are going to be disappointed.

But I imagine that many products will make omega-3 claims based on SDA soy. Not only farmed fish but beef, pork and chicken raised in feedlots and fed on grains will now be able to claim that they too are rich in omega-3 fatty acids if they have had the GMO soy in their rations. All manner of processed foods currently made from soy or larded up with soy oils will also be advertized as omega-3 enhanced.

These marketing efforts won't work for those who are squicked out about GMOs, and they won't work for those who are health conscious and read the fine print, but I suspect that such marketing claims will be effective in the US where GMOs are better accepted and processed foods such as margarine have long been well accepted.

I'll have to update my marketing claims to make a more nuanced case for the benefits of the real omega-3 fatty acids in my products, and that they come from non-GMO sources in order to continue to enjoy market separation. I will also continue my uncommon approach to grass fed beef which produces animals that are truly "finished", i.e. fattened on grass, since they have much more marbling than you usually find in commodity grass fed beef, and that means much larger amounts of these essential fatty acids. They not only have a good n6:n3 ratio, they have significant amounts of n3. And I'll have to emphasize the EPA/DHA/CLA breakdown in the lab reports about the beef more than the total omega-3 fatty acids to show that it isn't just composed of the shorter chain fats that are of lesser value to humans.