Krill Oil

Krill oil is the lipid fraction of Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, a shrimp-like crustacean taken in the Southern Ocean under CCAMLR catch limits. Milled krill or krill meal is extracted with ethanol and the extract filtered clear of protein and shell residue, leaving a deep red oil in which a large share of the EPA and DHA is esterified to phospholipids rather than triglycerides, alongside naturally esterified astaxanthin that gives the oil its colour. Thovek supplies it encapsulated in 500 mg, 1000 mg and 1250 mg softgel fills, in bulk or under the buyer's label, and as drummed oil where the customer encapsulates in-house. Specification follows the EU novel food union list entry for Antarctic krill oil: phospholipids ≥ 35% to < 60% for the standard grade, with a phospholipid-rich grade at ≥ 60%; EPA ≥ 9% and DHA ≥ 5% of the oil; peroxide value ≤ 3 meq O2/kg; saponification value ≤ 230 mg KOH/g; trans fatty acids ≤ 1%; moisture and volatiles ≤ 3%. Purchase contracts are usually written tighter than the regulatory floor, commonly EPA ≥ 12% and DHA ≥ 5.5% by GC-FID. Two testing points are worth flagging to a QA team. First, p-anisidine value and TOTOX are not meaningful on krill oil, because astaxanthin interferes with the pAV assay and GOED restricts that method to uncoloured triglyceride and ethyl ester oils; oxidative state is shown instead by peroxide value plus a recognised stability method. Second, fluoride is a sourcing question: over 99% of krill fluoride sits in the exoskeleton, and deshelled processing routes give oil below 0.5 mg/kg where whole-krill extraction can reach 3–5 mg/kg. Commercially, allergen and diet status are the details that decide whether a buyer can use the material. Krill is a crustacean, so every batch carries a crustacean allergen declaration and the product is neither vegan nor vegetarian; where the softgel shell is fish gelatin a fish declaration is added, and bovine gelatin shells bring the usual halal, kosher and BSE-origin questions. Krill oil is covered by US GRAS notices GRN 000242 and GRN 000371, both closed with FDA "no questions" letters, and is authorised as a novel food in the EU. Formulators working to EU labelling rules generally size fills around the 250 mg/day combined EPA and DHA intake condition attached to the authorised function claims in Regulation (EU) No 432/2012. Every shipment travels with COA, allergen and origin statements, heavy metal, dioxin and PCB results, and MSC chain-of-custody paperwork where certified material is contracted.