Fermented Cod Liver Oil
A debate has blasted, after a 111-page report composed by Kaayla Daniel, MD, the vice president of Weston A Price Foundation, in regards to the aged cod liver oil item (FLCO).
Daniel had asked the board of WAPF to test this item from Green Pastures, after she started to suspect something was wrong with it. The board of WAPF, who vigorously embraced this item, declined to have it tested thus Daniel paid for the tests herself.
Daniel had asked the board of WAPF to test this item from Green Pastures, after she started to suspect something was wrong with it. The board of WAPF, who vigorously embraced this item, declined to have it tested thus Daniel paid for the tests herself.
What Daniel found is not only the Green Pasture cod liver oil is not fermented, but is rancid, is a poor source of Vitamin D, and isn’t even from cod.
Dr. Ron’s Ultra Pure, a supplement company owned by Ron Schmid, a long-time WAPF supporter, said on his web site he was no longer carrying Green Pasture cod liver oil and butter oil.
On a separate page, he published a long account of his own experience with heart failure a few years ago, which he attributed to fermented cod liver oil.
“In the six years I took fermented cod liver oil, I went from running ten miles a day to being barely able to walk across the room. My cardiologist, a world renowned physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital named Mark Marieb, was at first skeptical of my theory that cod liver oil had caused my heart problems. But as he has followed what he calls my ‘miraculous recovery’ from advanced heart failure (the usual prognosis is death within three to six months, and when first admitted at Yale-New Haven, I was seen by the Heart Transplant Team), he has gradually accepted that the cause of my heart failure was excessive amounts of cod liver oil.”
David Gumpert, a journalist and writer, who has written a number of books and articles about food and small business, claims that last February, he had contacted Sally Fallon Morrell, the president of the WAPF, regarding his concerns expressed about the Green Pasture fermented cod liver oil. Fallon's reply said in part:
“The Weston A. Price Foundation has recently received several inquiries about the possibility of rancidity in fermented cod liver oil. After conducting our own due diligence, we have concluded that these concerns are unfounded.”
According to Gumpert, Fallon included results of lab reports wherein it showed the Green Pasture product was not rancid. It added:
“The Weston A. Price Foundation has performed an appropriate due diligence investigation and has found no credible evidence of rancidity or putrefaction in the Green Pastures fermented CLO. We continue to endorse this product.”
By the way, Daniel and Fallon are co-writers of a book distributed this year, entitled, Nourishing Broth.
Daniel says in her report that she first became concerned in regards to the honesty of the Green Pasture cod liver oil, based on Gumpert's articles. Unfortunately, while Daniel wanted WAPF to investigate, the board did not think it was necessary.
“As I reeled in the evidence, I came to believe there was something seriously wrong with FCLO. I thought the Weston A. Price Foundation should get to the bottom of it, and advised Sally Fallon Morell that we needed to test the Green Pasture Fermented Cod Liver Oil product properly and not just rely on David Wetzel’s assurances and his testing. I expressed concerns to her and later to WAPF’s Board of Directors about probable rancidity and possible putrefaction, and said I was skeptical of data showing improbably high levels of Vitamin D2 in the product. I furthermore shared reports from clinicians who were finding severe Vitamin D deficiencies among some members who were regularly taking FCLO. As Vice President of WAPF, I felt the safety of our members and the credibility of the foundation were at stake.
“In December 2014, WAPF’s Board of Directors voted against testing based on Sally Fallon Morell’s beliefs, David Wetzel’s assurances, and scientific data of limited and questionable value. I was strongly advised to relax, leave the science to people who could be ‘fair to Dave’ and to toe the FCLO line.
“Instead I went underground and set out on my own to test FCLO at some of the world’s top laboratories.”
Daniel said that the results of the testing, which was sent at five independent labs in the U.S., Norway, and the Netherlands, confirmed her worst fears.
“Lab tests indicate the Green Pasture Fermented Cod Liver Oil is rancid; putrid; low in the fat-soluble vitamins A, D and K; apparently diluted with a trans-fat containing vegetable oil — and not even from cod. We have reliable reports that the X-Factor Gold Butter Oil comes from Argentina, not the Great Plains, and it tests rancid as well. And contrary to Green Pasture’s advertising, Dr. Weston A. Price’s own words make it clear that these are not products he would ever have endorsed.”
Daniel offers people who feel they may have been hurt by the item, to make an appointment, by telephone or by means of Skype. (Contact wholenutritionist@earthlink.net
And WAPF replies to their faithful members on their website. You can click here to read more.
In the meantime, keeping in mind that the late Weston A Price did not ever recommend fermented cod liver oil. This was an add in by Sally Fallon Morrell for the foundation.
Dr. Lawrence Wilson, who is criticized often for being a hard line with his diet, does not recommend fermented cod liver oil nor does he recommend we eat fermented foods, except for kefir, yogurt, miso and on occasion sauerkraut. According to Wilson he says that cod liver oil, fermented or not, does not provide enough Vitamin D and it is in fact toxic.
I trust nutritional balancing because I have been around long enough to know what works and what doesn't and I can only hope that everyone eventually understands that the business of wellness is as big as the business of licensing health care and many are in the game simply to make money - while there is nothing wrong with making money- integrity is something that cannot be bought.
References: David Gumpert
Dr. Ron’s Ultra Pure, a supplement company owned by Ron Schmid, a long-time WAPF supporter, said on his web site he was no longer carrying Green Pasture cod liver oil and butter oil.
On a separate page, he published a long account of his own experience with heart failure a few years ago, which he attributed to fermented cod liver oil.
“In the six years I took fermented cod liver oil, I went from running ten miles a day to being barely able to walk across the room. My cardiologist, a world renowned physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital named Mark Marieb, was at first skeptical of my theory that cod liver oil had caused my heart problems. But as he has followed what he calls my ‘miraculous recovery’ from advanced heart failure (the usual prognosis is death within three to six months, and when first admitted at Yale-New Haven, I was seen by the Heart Transplant Team), he has gradually accepted that the cause of my heart failure was excessive amounts of cod liver oil.”
David Gumpert, a journalist and writer, who has written a number of books and articles about food and small business, claims that last February, he had contacted Sally Fallon Morrell, the president of the WAPF, regarding his concerns expressed about the Green Pasture fermented cod liver oil. Fallon's reply said in part:
“The Weston A. Price Foundation has recently received several inquiries about the possibility of rancidity in fermented cod liver oil. After conducting our own due diligence, we have concluded that these concerns are unfounded.”
According to Gumpert, Fallon included results of lab reports wherein it showed the Green Pasture product was not rancid. It added:
“The Weston A. Price Foundation has performed an appropriate due diligence investigation and has found no credible evidence of rancidity or putrefaction in the Green Pastures fermented CLO. We continue to endorse this product.”
By the way, Daniel and Fallon are co-writers of a book distributed this year, entitled, Nourishing Broth.
Daniel says in her report that she first became concerned in regards to the honesty of the Green Pasture cod liver oil, based on Gumpert's articles. Unfortunately, while Daniel wanted WAPF to investigate, the board did not think it was necessary.
“As I reeled in the evidence, I came to believe there was something seriously wrong with FCLO. I thought the Weston A. Price Foundation should get to the bottom of it, and advised Sally Fallon Morell that we needed to test the Green Pasture Fermented Cod Liver Oil product properly and not just rely on David Wetzel’s assurances and his testing. I expressed concerns to her and later to WAPF’s Board of Directors about probable rancidity and possible putrefaction, and said I was skeptical of data showing improbably high levels of Vitamin D2 in the product. I furthermore shared reports from clinicians who were finding severe Vitamin D deficiencies among some members who were regularly taking FCLO. As Vice President of WAPF, I felt the safety of our members and the credibility of the foundation were at stake.
“In December 2014, WAPF’s Board of Directors voted against testing based on Sally Fallon Morell’s beliefs, David Wetzel’s assurances, and scientific data of limited and questionable value. I was strongly advised to relax, leave the science to people who could be ‘fair to Dave’ and to toe the FCLO line.
“Instead I went underground and set out on my own to test FCLO at some of the world’s top laboratories.”
Daniel said that the results of the testing, which was sent at five independent labs in the U.S., Norway, and the Netherlands, confirmed her worst fears.
“Lab tests indicate the Green Pasture Fermented Cod Liver Oil is rancid; putrid; low in the fat-soluble vitamins A, D and K; apparently diluted with a trans-fat containing vegetable oil — and not even from cod. We have reliable reports that the X-Factor Gold Butter Oil comes from Argentina, not the Great Plains, and it tests rancid as well. And contrary to Green Pasture’s advertising, Dr. Weston A. Price’s own words make it clear that these are not products he would ever have endorsed.”
Daniel offers people who feel they may have been hurt by the item, to make an appointment, by telephone or by means of Skype. (Contact wholenutritionist@earthlink.net
And WAPF replies to their faithful members on their website. You can click here to read more.
In the meantime, keeping in mind that the late Weston A Price did not ever recommend fermented cod liver oil. This was an add in by Sally Fallon Morrell for the foundation.
Dr. Lawrence Wilson, who is criticized often for being a hard line with his diet, does not recommend fermented cod liver oil nor does he recommend we eat fermented foods, except for kefir, yogurt, miso and on occasion sauerkraut. According to Wilson he says that cod liver oil, fermented or not, does not provide enough Vitamin D and it is in fact toxic.
I trust nutritional balancing because I have been around long enough to know what works and what doesn't and I can only hope that everyone eventually understands that the business of wellness is as big as the business of licensing health care and many are in the game simply to make money - while there is nothing wrong with making money- integrity is something that cannot be bought.
References: David Gumpert
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